Pedagogic and research activities of the Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering are complex and comprehensive in all aspects of water and wastewater treatment.
Contemporary research
- Water Treatment
• Removal of iron and manganese from ground and mine water.
• Water clarification by means of activated suspensions and polyelectrolytes.
• Removal of heavy metals from water by adsorption and precipitation.
• Removal of beryllium from drinking water.
• Removal of radon from drinking water.
• Removal of priority pollutants from drinking water, disinfection by-products.
• Determination of BDOC parameter in drinking water.
• Evaluation of drinking water's aggressive quality.
• Destruction of organic compounds in water using electrical discharge.
- Wastewater Treatment
• Population dynamics of activated sludge.
• Separation problems of activated sludge.
• Mathematical models - simulation of activated sludge process.
• Biological nutrient removal, kinetic and metabolic studies of main physiological groups of microorganisms.
• Bioaugmentation of activated sludge microorganisms.
• On-line control of nitrification and denitrification processes.
• Limits of wastewater treatment processes, wastewater reclamation and reuse.
• Membrane biological reactor technology.
• Advanced oxidation processes.
• Heavy metals removal from wastewaters.
• Removal of sulfate from industrial wastewater.
• Combination of anaerobic and aerobic processes at wastewater treatment.
- Sludge Management
• Minimization of sludge production at biological wastewater treatment.
• Improvement and stimulation of sludge digestion, and mechanical and thermal sludge disintegration.
• Thermophilic anaerobic digestion of sludge.
• Methods of sludge hygianization.
• Separate sludge liquor (reject water) treatment.
• Organic substrate production from sludge for biological nutrient removal.
- Anaerobic Digestion
• Anaerobic wastewater treatment and design of anaerobic reactors.
• Anaerobic fermentation of biowastes.
• Testing of activity of anaerobic microorganisms and anaerobic biodegradability of organic compounds.
• Use of microaerobic conditions at anaerobic digestion (hydrogen sulfide removal, improvement of specific compounds' biodegradability).
- Hydrochemistry and Water Analysis
• Solution of chemical equilibria in natural and wastewaters.
• Determination of non-ionic and cationic surfactants in waters.
• Determination of heavy metals in waters and sludge.
• Determination of POC (purgeable, volatile OC).
• Determination of TOC and DOC in waters and sludge.
• Supercritical fluid extraction of organic contaminants from environmental samples.
• Solid phase microextraction.
• Analysis of toxicologically relevant pollutants in water and environmental solids.
• Determination of AOX in water and sludge.
• Study of chlordioxide system.
• Spectrometric determination of fluoride in water.
• Spectrometric determination of CODMn.
• Determination of humic substances from water.
• Analyses of residual compounds in activated sludge treatment plants effluents e.g. Separation of non-steroidal antirheumatic from water.
- Microbiology
• Filamentous microorganisms identification and suppression.
• Microbiological analysis of activated sludge and biological foams.
• Identification methods of molecular biology (gene probes).
• Biological degradability of substances containing quaternary nitrogen.
• Determination of relation between the chemical structure of substances containing quaternary nitrogen (with aliphatic or aromatic parts) and biodegradability.
• Microbiological analysis of drinking water.
• Analysis of main physiological groups of microorganisms (C, N, S cycle) in surface, underground, and wastewater and sludge.
• Ecological testing - effect of the contamination of soils on the composition and activity of microflora.
• Toxicity of wastewater, chemicals, and new products and their effect on surface water and biological treatment.
• Molecular biology methods.
- Hydrobiology
• Regional studies of the saprobic and trophic relations of rivers, brooks, and storage reservoirs.
• Bioassays of acute, subchronic, and chronic toxicity on biological material.
• Biological conditions (microscopic studies) in different model treatment units.
• Biological analyses and evaluation of raw surface and underground water sources, drinking water treatment plants, and biological regrowth in distribution systems.
• Biological (hydro- and microbiological) audits.
• Biological evaluation of wastewater treatment plant effluents.
• Biological evaluation of cooling waters.
Expected future research orientation
• New trends in drinking water treatment and distribution.
• Upgrade and innovation of wastewater treatment processes.
• Alternative methods of wastewater treatment.
• Biological degradability of environmentally hazardous substances.
• Utilization of wastewaters, organic wastes, and sludges as a source of energy and raw materials.
Contact:
Prof. Jan Bartáček
Tel.: +420 220 44 3474
E-mail: jan.bartacek@vscht.cz
Internet: tvp.vscht.cz/?jazyk=en