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A novel rapid screening assay has the potential to reduce harmful water borne disease outbreaks. The test can identify the major species of Cryptosporidium that are present in human faeces in less than three hours. Cryptosporidium is the most common non-viral cause of diarrhea worldwide. (More PDF file 24 kB)

Australian scientists have discovered a new technology that can easily break down recalcitrant chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC) on-site. Most CHCs are highly toxic products or by-products of chemical reactions and are associated with some well known environmental problems. (More PDF file 25 kB)

“New rapid in-field diagnostic devices will detect the presence of pathogenic organisms or chemical contamination in water in minutes. They will significantly improve water safety and reduce health risk from use of contaminated drinking water in areas affected by major catastrophes and in the developing world”, said Dr David Garman, EBCRC Executive Director and President of IWA at the World Water Congress in Vienna. (More PDF file 25 kB)

A new treatment technology will harness natural biological processes to eliminate potentially damaging nutrients from domestic wastewater. It has the potential to reduce overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of wastewater treatment by a third. (More PDF file 20 kB)

Turning waste into valuable resources is the focus of Lee Walker’s PhD studies. Maximising green energy (biogas) production in composting processes and converting biodegradable waste from landfill to high quality compost are key aspects of Lee’s investigation. Lee is a PhD candidate for Environmental Biotechnology CRC, at Murdoch University, in Perth, Western Australia where Lee has been optimising a composting process called DiCOM®.
“Little systematic attention has been paid to the benefits of separately composting the biodegradable part of household rubbish. Most organic waste is still buried in landfills”, Lee says. (More PDF file 29 kB)

Rapid in-field diagnostic devices developed by Environmental Biotechnology CRC researchers based at Murdoch University in Perth will detect the presence of pathogenic organisms in water, food, industrial or point-of-care situations in less than six hours. (More PDF file 24 kB)

Two eminent Australian research centres are joining their forces in a radical approach to biofilm control -
The Environmental Biotechnology CRC (EBCRC) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical
Chemistry and Biochemistry (Free Radical Centre) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will
see them work together to improve technology that initiates biofilm formation and dispersal. (More PDF file 20 kB)

"New discoveries in microbiology and nanotechnology applied to reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology will allow increased energy efficiency of desalination and water recycling plants around the world", said Dr David Garman, Environmental Biotechnology CRC Executive Director and the President of the International Water Association. Dr Garman opened the World Congress on Desalination & Water Reuse in Spain yesterday. (More PDF file 20 kB)

New technology to produce green electricity from sewage and food processing residuals that currently go as waste will benefit small and medium scale biosolids producers, including food processing industries and communities less than 100,000 persons. (More PDF file 20 kB)

A new ‘fast sludge’ process using advanced biotechnology will get a major boost from the International Science Linkages fund. The funding will enable Australia’s top molecular biologists to link with leading European researchers to advance knowledge of the process. The aerobic granular sludge process will revolutionise wastewater treatment by increasing the treatment process throughput and elimination the dewatering process. (More PDF file 48 kB)

“New techniques based on developments in bio-and nanotechnologies will provide significant improvements to the everyday management of water supplies”, Environmental Biotechnology CRC Executive Director and President of the International Water Association Dr David Garman will tell the American Water Works Association’s annual conference (ACE 07) in Toronto, Canada today. (More PDF file 48 kB)

A new technology that allows the control of nutrient concentrations in industrial wastewater has been developed by Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre (EBCRC) scientists together with Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Australian Meat Processor Corporation. (More PDF file 48 kB)

Biotechnologists developing cheap and novel ways to get rid of biofilms in water and marine industries. The slime on your backyard pool, the plaque on your teeth, the build up on the bottom of your boat…these are all types of biofilms.

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WA Biotechnologists are reducing municipal organic waste more efficiently more than ever before. Large scale composting requires a large area and generally must be located a long way from collection points. In addition, methane - a greenhouse gas - is often lost to the atmosphere in the process. But no longer!
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Our biopaints project featured in the Sydney Morning Herald on 19 September 2005. Here is an excerpt:

Green paint fends off barnacles
Paint that is swarming with bacteria could be a way to rid boats of barnacles.

Sydney researchers developing the "living paint" technology discovered the bacteria on a sea lettuce that anglers use as bait to catch blackfish. "The sea lettuce looked much cleaner than neighbouring seaweeds," said Lachlan Yee, a member of a University of NSW research team, who collects sea lettuce for the project off the rocks at Clovelly. The bacteria, Pseudoalteromonas tunicata, was found to exude dark green substances that prevent microbial slime, fungi and other marine organisms from colonising the seaweed's surface.
Dr Yee and his colleagues at the Environmental Biotechnology Co-operative Research Centre have now developed a way of incorporating these marine bacteria into a polymer film that has also been derived from seaweed. The bacteria have survived in the polymer for up to 250 days in sea water in the laboratory.

Professor Linda Blackall, Research Director at the Environmental Biotechnology CRC (EBCRC) has won an international award for outstanding contributions to activated sludge population dynamics in the field of wastewater treatment.
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QLD scientists help prevent algal blooms using Biotechnology to achieve environmentally friendly nutrient removal from agricultural wastewater.
(More PDF file in new window 28kB)