Ecophysiology of microbes that produce taste/odour chemicals and their impact on drinking water treatability

Unexpected taste and odour (T&O) in drinking water is an emerging issue for the Australian water industry as it undermines customers’ trust in drinking water suppliers. Most water utilities monitor only cyanobacterial and microalgal populations, and measure only geosmin and MIB concentrations in raw water, which is likely to overlook the full extent of biogenic T&O challenges in the supply of drinking water. Conventional coagulation/flocculation/filtration are often adopted for T&O removal. The project intends to identify key producers in source water and determine the treatability of unknown T&O for the proactive management of drinking water.

PhD Thesis underway by Jin Zhu.