Student wins water award

Civil Engineering student Themelis Mousellis has won the Student Water Prize at this year’s Australian Water Association’s NT Water Awards.

Themelis was selected for his project “Defining risk-based odour buffer zones for Darwin's wastewater treatment facilities: odour dispersion modelling and field olfactometry”.

The project aims to check some of the current buffer zones around each of the major wastewater treatment sites in the Darwin/Palmerston region are sufficient to minimise exposure to odour.

“Although odour from sewage at wastewater treatment sites does not generally cause health-related problems, it can cause psychological stress,” Themelis said.

Themelis worked with Professor of Civil Engineering Charlie Fairfield to assess buffer zones using dispersion modelling, complaint mapping, and olfactometry (odour detection).

“This analysis helped us to understand how odour from wastewater treatment sites may affect surrounding areas,” Themelis said.

“We found that wet- to dry-season atmospheric transitions proved significant with respect to complaints received.”

The research has recommended a rotary water-atomiser-based spray-suppression system as a cost-effective solution to potential odour nuisance problems.