The importance of multi-disciplinary research for alternative water sources

Location

Date Published

17th May 2016

Citation

Republished in part with permission from Blinco, L. J. (2016). 'The importance of multi-disciplinary research for alternative water sources’, Intelligent Water Decisions, 17 May. Available at: http://waterdecisions.org/important-expertise-alternative-supply/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Project

C5.1

Topic

Alternative water supplies

Participant

The University of Adelaide

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Summary

As researchers, we need a range of expertise to fully understand complex water supply systems. In this article I demonstrate what this means in the real world. Read on to find out how multi-disciplinary teams can be so important.

Water supply systems are complex. As we begin using more alternative sources of water, such as harvested stormwater and groundwater, these systems only become more complex. In a traditional water supply system, we rely on surface water from less developed or natural catchments. Climate change, population growth and overuse of these sources have put stress on our water resources. To ease the pressure, water utilities, local councils, developers and other water system managers have turned to alternative water supplies.

Analysing systems that use alternative sources from a hydraulic engineering background does not provide all the answers. We need different expertise to fully understand these systems.