MSc by Research: Effective Treatment of Algae for Drinking Water Production

Start date: 24/03/2025   

Studentship funding 

Sponsored by the Severn Trent Water, this studentship will provide a bursary of £20,000 (tax free) plus fees* for 1 year. 

Type of opportunity 

Fully-funded studentship - Opportunities which are fully funded (e.g. covers all fees and stipend) 

Eligibility & Related Project Details

Type of studentship: MSc(RES)

Fee status of eligible applicants: UK

Duration of Award if full time preferred*: 1 years

Duration of Award if part time preferred: 2 years

1^st Supervisor: Prof Bruce Jefferson   

2^nd Supervisor: Dr Marc Pidou

This exciting fully funded MSc(RES) with a stipend of £20,000 pa, is sponsored by the Severn Trent Water. The research will look at treatment solutions to address the fresh challenges that algae pose to drinking water production due to climate change. This is an experimental project that will investigate the use of cloth filtration and coagulation coupled with clarification (sedimentation, flotation or membranes) to manage the high solids loads that occur during algal blooms. The successful candidate will work closely with Severn Trent Water to translate the finding from the research onto the operations at the target drinking water treatment works. 

Nuisance and harmful algae populations are increasing due to the impacts of climate change. The biggest changes are seen with respect to the blue-green (cyanobacteria) phylum, reflecting their opportunistic behaviour with leads to fast growing rates that have been reported worldwide. As a consequence, in water bodies that are getting warmer, there is increasing evidence that blue-greens are dominating over other algae. This is particularly important as they are associated with toxin release and taste and odour problems, such that there is increased activity in developing treatment solutions, especially at the front of the works to minimise downstream challenges.

An emergingly popular separation technology is the use of pile cloth media filters due to their relative efficacy, low capital cost and low energy use. However, there is no evidence currently available on their performance with algae or the impact on downstream treatment. As such this exciting project aims to be first to deliver evidence of the effectiveness of pile cloth filters and understand the relationship between algae properties and treatment. The same is true for coagulation of emerging algae species and the work will further deliver new data on coagulation of species such as Oscillatoria and Dolichospermum.

This project is a collaboration between Cranfield University and Severn Trent Water that will provide truly novel and crucial data that will support the use of innovative technology for drinking water production at a specific site for Severn Trent Water.

Entry requirements

Applicants should have a first- or second-class UK honours degree or international equivalent in a related discipline. This project would suit in a relevant subject such as chemical engineering, chemistry, environmental engineering, environmental science or other relevant engineering/science degree.

Funding

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be classified as a home student. We require that applicants are under no restrictions regarding how long they can stay in the UK.

How to apply

For further information please contact: Prof Bruce Jefferson
Name: Prof Bruce Jefferson
Email: b.jefferson@cranfield.ac.uk

For information about applications please contact: study@cranfield.ac.uk

Keywords: algae, cloth filtration, coagulation

Application Deadline: 19/02/2025

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