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Department of Civil Engineering |
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phone: 416-978-0125 |
Research Interests
I am interested in sustainable wastewater treatment. Sustainable wastewater treatment provides economic and resource benefits over many current wastewater treatment practices. In current practice, wastewater is considered to be a waste to be treated to some supposedly acceptable criteria and then thrown away, i.e., discharged back to the environment. This is both costly and stupid. In sustainable wastewater treatment, wastewater is considered to be a raw material that can be converted to useful products such as energy, nutrients and especially water. Where possible, the water will be reused directly and only thrown away to the environment when no other options are available. Because the useful products may sold, the net economic cost versus current practice is reduced. Because the useful products reduce the demand for these products directly from the environment while also reducing the discharge of contaminants, the net environmental cost of sustainable wastewater treatment is also reduced versus current practice.
Anaerobic processes are key components of sustainable wastewater treatment. Oxygen is not required, biomass yields are reduced and energy can be recovered, usually as methane. My recent focus has been to develop more technically capable and cost-effective systems for the anaerobic treatment of wastewaters. Our approach is to combine computer modelling, using our model for the microbial kinetics of anaerobic systems and our model for settling in the zone-settling and compression regimes, with experimental efforts. The computer modelling results tell us the theoretical maximum capability of a system from which we determine whether it is worthwhile to examine the system experimentally. Our experimental work is then focused on removing the practical barriers to reaching the theoretical maximum capability. This effort includes revising the computer models as new information about the actual response of systems is learned. The work requires a team effort, with some members focusing on numerical and computational problems, others on reactor design and operation challenges, and still others on the microbiology of the system.
Potential Students
If you are interested in applying to become a graduate student at the University of Toronto, Department of Civil Engineering, please e-mail Magdalena Rydzy or check the Department home page for more information. Admission to our graduate program is determined by the Department Admissions Committee, not by individual faculty.
A new master’s student interested in sustainable wastewater treatment should take the following courses:
CIV1308: Physical/Chemical Treatment Processes
CIV1309: Biological Treatment Processes
CIV1313: Environmental Microbiology (when offered)
CIV1319: Chemistry and Analysis of Water and Wastes
Additionally, I recommend that students enroll in the collaborative program for environmental engineering and take one of the core courses in that program: IES1001, IES1200, IES1202, IES1701, IES1704, IES1705, IES2501, JVP2147 or MIE1901 (see the Environmental Engineering home page for more information). Two other useful courses are Probability and Statistics CIV1504 and Analytical Environmental Chemistry IES1410. Additionally, there are a large number of other courses available from Civil Engineering, the Institute for Environmental Studies and elsewhere in the University. Although the minimum course requirement as established by the Department for a Master of Applied Science degree is 5 courses, students working under my supervision take 6 or even 7 courses. Doctoral students under my supervision complete at least 6 courses past their Masters. The courses are selected to broaden and deepen the student's experience and depend upon the student's background.