Getting Systems Engineering into Regional Wastewater Treatment Strategies - WWT&SYSENG

Water is the sector with the most comprehensive coverage in EU environmental regulation. The recently enacted Water Framework Directive initiates a new era in EU environmental policy, setting common goals for water management in 15 Member State countries and the 12 pre-accession countries, which should conform in the long-term to Community law. The directive institutionalises ecosystem-based objectives and planning processes at river basin level with the ultimate objective of "good" overall river quality. However, the challenges to meet this objective within the time-scale allowed are immense. These challenges are fall into the categories of finding new scientific knowledge, developing new systems Engineering expertise, changing existing industrial practice and up-grading research training for new skills. The research-training network WWT&SYSENG seeks to address some of these issues. The research of the network will follow the systems Engineering method to formulate an integrated urban regional wastewater treatment model. Standardised simulation tools will be created. The control and systems Engineering techniques needed to manage regional water and wastewater resources on river basin scale will be investigated. Case study material from water industry sources will be introduced into the research to create the necessary realism into the modelling, simulation and control studies.