CERES :: Browsing by Author "Jeffrey, Paul"

Browsing by Author "Jeffrey, Paul"

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Open Access
Applying the water safety plan to water reuse: towards a conceptual risk management framework
(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015-04-08) Goodwin, Daniel; Raffin, Marie; Jeffrey, Paul; Smith, Heather M.
The Water Safety Plan (WSP) is receiving increasing attention as a recommended risk management approach for water reuse through a range of research programmes, guidelines and standards. Numerous conceptual modifications of the approach – including the Sanitation Safety Plan, the Water Cycle Safety Plan, and even a dedicated Water Reuse Safety Plan – have been put forward for this purpose. However, these approaches have yet to encapsulate the full spectrum of possible water reuse applications, and evidence of their application to reuse remains limited. Through reviewing the existing evidence base, this paper investigates the potential for adapting the WSP into an approach for water reuse. The findings highlight a need for the management of risk to reflect on, and facilitate the inclusion of, broader contexts and objectives for water reuse schemes. We conclude that this could be addressed through a more integrated approach to risk management, encapsulated within an overarching risk management framework (adapted from the WHO's Framework for safe drinking water) and operationalised through the Water Reuse Safety Plan (WRSP). We also propose that the WRSP should be based on modifications to the existing WSP approach, including an increased emphasis on supporting communication and engagement, and improvements in decision support mechanisms to better account for uncertainty, risk interactions and risk prioritisation.
Open Access
Assessing the European wastewater reclamation and reuse potential: a scenario analysis
(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2006-02-01T00:00:00Z) Hochstrat, Rita; Wintgens, Thomas; Melin, Thomas; Jeffrey, Paul
A model-based estimation of the wastewater reclamation and reuse potential in a European context is presented, and the effects of different water management scenarios on the appraisal are quantified. The impact of climate change on water availability and variation in the demand pattern and water use of considered countries is the modifying variable in these scenarios. The simulation demonstrates that there is a significant potential for an increased utilisation of reclaimed wastewater in many European countries, specifically in the Mediterranean region. Aspects related to the factors that will definitely drive or slow down the development are addressed.
Open Access
Association between water and sanitation service levels and soil-transmitted helminth infection risk factors: a cross-sectional study in rural Rwanda
(Oxford University Press, 2020-02-12) Mather, William; Hutchings, Paul; Budge, Sophie; Jeffrey, Paul
Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are one of the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases in the world. Drug treatment is the preferred method for infection control yet re-infection occurs rapidly, so water and sanitation represent important complementary barriers to transmission. This cross-sectional study set out to observe STH risk factors in rural Rwandan households in relation to the Sustainable Development Goal water and sanitation service levels. Survey and observation data was collected from 270 households and 67 water sources in rural Rwanda and was processed in relation to broader risk factors identified from the literature for the role of water and sanitation in STH infection pathways. The study found a significant association between higher water and sanitation service levels and lower STH infection risk profiles for both water and sanitation. However, variability existed within service level classifications, indicating that greater granularity within service level assessments is required to more precisely assess the efficacy of water and sanitation interventions in reducing STH infection risks.
Open Access
Automated Drinking Water Quality Assessment: New Insights into Flow Cytometry Fluorescent Fingerprinting without Cell Gating
(Cranfield University, 2024-02-16 09:05) Hassard, Francis; Claveau, Leila; Jeffrey, Paul
Dataset for peer review paper from EngD EPSRC funded thesis L. Claveau - Chapter 2 and Chapter 3
Open Access
Briefing: Negotiating value at the research–practice interface in the water sector
(Thomas Telford (ICE Publishing), 2015-09-01) Jeffrey, Paul; McAdam, Ewan J.; Templeton, Michael R.; Savic, Dragan; Shucksmith, James; Amezaga, Jaime; Gormey-Gallagher, Aine
Lessons from experiences of managing an engineering doctorate programme are delineated in this paper, with particular emphasis on the relationship between research and practice. The paper reports on applied, practice-oriented research at the UK's industrial doctoral centre for the water sector. A descriptive account of the negotiating value at the research–practice interface is presented based on decades of collective practice, during which the engineering doctorate model has matured and grown. Conclusions focus on recommendations pertaining to project management, knowledge transfer and the effective and consistent translation of academic and practitioner project details.
Open Access
Campus source to sink wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)
(Elsevier, 2024-05-06) Folkes, Miles; Castro-Gutierrez, V. M.; Lundy, Lian; Bajón Fernández, Yadira ; Soares, Ana; Jeffrey, Paul; Hassard, Francis
Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) offers an aggregate, and cost-effective approach for tracking infectious disease outbreak prevalence within communities, that provides data on community health complementary to individual clinical testing. This study reports on a 16-month WBS initiative on a university campus in England, UK, assessing the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewers from large buildings, downstream sewer locations, raw wastewater, partially treated and treated effluents. Key findings include the detection of the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant in wastewater, with 70 % of confirmed campus cases correlating with positive wastewater samples. Notably, ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) levels showed a positive correlation (ρ = 0.543, p < 0.01) with virus levels at the large building scale, a relationship not observed at the sewer or wastewater treatment works (WWTW) levels due to dilution. The WWTW was compliant to wastewater standards, but the secondary treatment processes were not efficient for virus removal as SARS-CoV-2 was consistently detected in treated discharges. Tools developed through WBS can also be used to enhance traditional environmental monitoring of aquatic systems. This study provides a detailed source-to-sink evaluation, emphasizing the critical need for the widespread application and improvement of WBS. It showcases WBS utility and reinforces the ongoing challenges posed by viruses to receiving water quality.
Open Access
The capacity of organizations to deliver effective water management through the provisions of the Water Framework Directive: the case of Malta
(Cranfield University, 2016-08) Xerri, Francesca; Jeffrey, Paul; Smith, Heather M.
Effective implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is dependent on Member States’ national water institutions and organizations, often designated as ‘competent authorities’. Although substantial research relating to the Directive itself has been carried out, less is known about the extent to which competent authorities have the organizational capacity to deliver it. The literature notes that conceptual understanding of capacity has been hampered by lack of definitional clarity making both its management and assessment challenging. In this contribution, several conceptualizations of organizational capacity found in the literature are used to construct a set of core qualitative organizational components that encourage analysts to consider the ways in which legal authority, information and knowledge, skills, resources and leadership shape a competent authority’s ability to deliver the WFD. Malta, the smallest European Member State, is the case study used to test the application of these components. Qualitative empirical data collected from policy documents, face-to-face semi-structured interviews and online news media articles, provided the evidence to thematically explore and evaluate the Maltese competent authorities’ organizational capacity across the implementation of three main WFD provisions that are in focus: Article 8, 9 and 14. As a result, the core components of organizational capacity are expanded and refined to produce an organizational capacity thematic map. The results show that competent authorities experience influences across the institutional frameworks they work in as well as external factors (primarily political). The results also support the idea of the organizational capacity components being highly interlinked and the presence (or lack thereof) of one component having knock-on effects on others within an organization. The combination of these two factors highly affect management options and outcomes in the implementation of the WFD. In the small state context of Malta these highlight the need to channel support in a coordinated manner from European counterparts to the Maltese water network. In turn, the water network can have positive knock-on effects on the organizational capacity of the Maltese competent authorities, which currently struggle to perform and seize available opportunities due to low possession of human resources and time availability. The approach and findings presented in this research provide a mechanism and evidence base that can facilitate bilateral discussions between Member States as well as with the European Commission, and help inform the WFD review process planned by end of 2019.
Open Access
Challenges for implementing water resources planning frameworks based on stochastic modelling assessments: the case for change in England and Wales
(Cranfield University, 2014-08) Turner, Sean; Jeffrey, Paul
This research examines the case for change in the regulated water resources planning process in England and Wales. The primary contribution to knowledge is delivered through the identification of practical, conceptual and institutional challenges associated with emerging planning methods based on stochastic modelling assessments. Four alternative modelling trials are executed and then compared to existing practice using real-world water resources systems. In-depth, structured interviews capture the views of a range of practitioners closely involved in the planning process. The study finds that the trialled approaches are technically feasible and can be executed using existing models and freely-available data. This finding counters the widespread view—exposed during interviews—that water companies are ill-equipped to conduct stochastic modelling assessments. However, some of the purported benefits of these frameworks failed to materialise in the case analyses. The study identifies arbitrary assumptions that threaten the transparency and rigour of the emerging methods. The practitioner interviews highlight widespread scepticism and perceived business risks associated with a shift away from deterministic planning. The thesis also delivers a number of methodological developments and is structured using a simple, novel matrix that characterises water availability assessment methods according to the way performance is measured and the way hydrological uncertainty is treated.
Open Access
Collaboration on risk management: the governance of a non-potable water reuse scheme in London
(Elsevier, 2017-07-13) Goodwin, Daniel; Jeffrey, Paul; Cook, H.; Raffin, M.
Ageing water infrastructure and population growth, issues that are characteristic of megacities, are likely to exacerbate water supply deficits in London. To address this threat, wastewater reclamation and non-potable reuse can potentially close the supply-demand gap without impacting on environmental water bodies. There is a need to understand the types of challenges that diverse stakeholders face in relation to the governance of NPR schemes, and how those challenges might be addressed in a megacity context. A case study is used to explore these challenges for an operational sewer mining scheme in London, where reclaimed non-potable water is used for irrigation and toilet flushing at the site of the London 2012 Olympic Park. Through qualitative analysis of interview and document data, the results highlight that collaboration and learning opportunities are perceived as necessary to improve scheme governance. The findings indicate that formal and informal engagement activities centred on risk management can support the development of common understandings, build important inter-stakeholder relationships and help maintain trust. Non-potable reuse can contribute to the resilience of megacities through infrastructure diversification, but its feasibility will depend on the willingness of stakeholders to participate and continually negotiate new risk management practices.
Open Access
Common or independent? The debate over regulations and standards for water reuse in Europe
(Elsevier, 2016-02-10) Fawell, John; Le Corre Pidou, Kristell; Jeffrey, Paul
Although unplanned water reuse has been practised across Europe for decades, multiple stresses on water supply and demand over recent years have led to the development of many planned reuse schemes. Despite this development, the legislative and regulatory regimes required to underpin a growing water reuse sector have arguably failed to emerge. The reasons for this and the cases for and against pan-European water reuse regulations are explored and debated. The conclusions highlight several challenges for politicians and policy makers if appropriate regulatory systems and water quality standards are to be provided which support the embryonic European water reuse sector.
Open Access
A comparative evaluation of reverse osmosis membrane performance when combined with anaerobic or aerobic membrane bioreactors for indirect potable reuse applications
(Elsevier, 2022-11-18) Huang, Yu; Jeffrey, Paul; Pidou, Marc
The filtration performance and fouling behaviour of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes was investigated for the post-treatment of aerobic (Ae) and anaerobic (An) MBR effluents treating municipal wastewater for potable reuse. Both MBR effluents followed by RO can produce a water quality sufficient for indirect potable water reuse, while fluorescence excitation-emission scan suggests RO can effectively remove disinfection by-products precursors, ensuring the safety for chlorine based reuse water distribution by rejecting the dissolved organic matters in MBR effluents. AnMBR effluent leads to more fouling when compared to the AeMBR effluent with an average membrane fouling resistance of 12.35 × 1013 m−1 and 8.97 × 1013 m−1. Elemental analysis and membrane surface imaging results demonstrate that the foulant deposition sequence is organic and colloidal at first, followed by inorganic substances, while TOC and Ca are the most deposited foulants from both effluents. The unremoved ammonia in the AnMBR effluent may partially go through in the RO permeate and exceed the threshold in Singapore's PUB NEWater standard, while experiencing a significantly higher deposition rate of 13.8 % than the nitrate (0.02 %) from the AeMBR effluent. The findings suggest that the combination of AnMBR with RO offers a more sustainable approach than with the AeMBR but nutrients removal, with the potential of recovery, is recommended before the RO membranes to limit the fouling propensity and achieve a permeate of sufficient quality.
Open Access
Concepts of legitimacy within the context of adaptive water management strategies
(Elsevier, 2006-11) Gearey, Mary; Jeffrey, Paul
This paper argues that to prevent or lessen the impact of episodic water stress within modern political economies, harnessing and tailoring emerging modes of legitimacy will play a crucial role in formulating pragmatic, solution-focused policy. In setting out a case for this position, we analyse the role which existing and novel modes of legitimacy play in shaping the boundaries and opportunity spaces for policy tool development. Central to the arguments outlined is a rethinking of the concept and practise of ‘legitimacy’ to include informal relationships between actors and amongst institutions. Legitimacy's re-evaluation is pertinent as existing demand management elements of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) become increasingly ineffectual in the face of escalating water stress. This paper's focus is on the interface between IWRM and socio-political values associated with potable water. This leads us to concentrate almost exclusively on public water supply issues within developed countries. It is argued that adaptive water management techniques will play a key role in policy development; but only if strategies recognise the need to engage with the diverse range of legitimacy models which typify late-industrial societies. The paper reviews theories of state action, civic participation and sovereignty to explore, through the use of case studies, what types of legitimacy models, and what types of policy to enact these models, could be used to support strategies to alleviate water stress.
Open Access
Customer contributions to water sector planning and decision-making in England and Wales
(Cranfield University, 2015-09) Sayles, Rebecca; Jeffrey, Paul
Mounting recognition of the socio-political context of the management of water resources has rendered the application of technocratic approaches in isolation insufficient in addressing future management challenges with participatory approaches increasingly promoted in response. Against this background, new regulatory mechanisms in the water sector in England and Wales promise an increased role for the views of customers in water utility planning and decision- making. Yet, existing scholarship on the institutionalisation of participative approaches in water utility planning and decision-making in England and Wales is sparse. This thesis contributes to an improved understanding of factors that hold potential to impact institutionalisation of participative approaches in this context by focusing on three specific aspects of effectiveness; motivational clarity, the influence of participative mechanism design, and the use and influence of water utility customer contributions in water sector planning and decision-making. This has been achieved through the deployment of participatory research in collaboration with the sponsoring organisation (a water utility operating in England and Wales) utilising group discussion and semi-structured interviews with domestic water customers and water utility practitioner respectively. Findings demonstrate that preference elicitation vehicles embedded within participatory mechanisms hold the potential to influence participants expressed preferences thus representing a key design consideration where multi- mechanism approaches are deployed in planning and decision-making contexts. Furthermore, useful design considerations for multi-attribute presentation in participatory mechanisms are presented. Findings also identify a dominance of instrumental and legalistic practitioner motivations for the use of participative approaches in water utility decision-making. Foremost, it identified the significance of the regulator in driving water utility practices for the management and influence of customer contributions in planning and decision- making, and more fundamentally illustrates the significant barrier posed by a legacy of technocratic practices for the institutionalisation of participatory approaches in water utilities.
Open Access
Customer priorities for water and wastewater services: a comparative evaluation of three elicitation methods
(Wiley, 2020-07-14) Sayles, Rebecca; Smith, Heather M.; Jeffrey, Paul
Water service providers are being urged to incorporate customer preferences into their investment plans with the relative merits of different elicitation techniques being exposed to greater scrutiny. Although elicitation can be undertaken with a range of methods, there is little understanding of their comparative performance in terms of being able to generate consistent or commensurable outcomes. This study reports an evaluation of both intra and inter method consistency for three preference elicitation methods. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient is used to measure consistency within and between elicitation methods and session transcripts provide additional evidence to support interpretation of the ranking process. Findings exposed low intra‐method variation but significant variation in some inter‐method comparisons. Discussion focuses on the internal dynamics of each method with conclusions calling for a wider range of methods to be studied so as to improve practitioner confidence in the use of these tools
Open Access
Data for the paper "What is the impact of personal care products selection on grey water characteristics and reuse?"
(Cranfield University, 2020-05-27 19:59) Le Corre Pidou, Kristell; Jeffrey, Paul; Jefferson, Bruce; Pidou, Marc
This unique study explores the question as to whether consumers’ product selection could affect the treatability and reuse of bathroom greywater. Fifty five personal care and household products (PCHP) were analysed for their effects on a range of water quality parameters including their aquatic and soil toxicity using Microtox® and MicroRespTM. Data used in the manuscript are compiled in the attached data file. Material and methods used to generate the data can be found in the manuscript
Open Access
Dataset "Sapper - MSc Thesis - Survey Data"
(Cranfield University, 2024-10-02) Jeffrey, Paul; Sule, May; Sapper, Sydney
Open Access
A de jure study of social accountability for water and sanitation services in Uganda
(IWA Publishing, 2022-05-17) Nansubuga, J.; Smith, Heather M.; Jeffrey, Paul
The provision and sustainability of water and sanitation services in many countries is compromised by poor accountability for investment and maintenance programmes. Previous work has largely been concerned with processes, tools, and initiatives which support wider accountability without considering the ways in which accountability is formalised in law and regulations. We use a structured content analysis of 17 legislative and policy documents from Uganda to identify the evidence for de jure accountability across 21 key water and sanitation functions using the following four accountability themes: rules, process, and standards; responsibilities and duties; performance monitoring; and corrective measures, incentives, and sanctions. Results indicate that there is a strong provision for accountability across two of the four themes but also weaknesses relating to lack of complaint mechanisms, limited stakeholder engagement in regulation formulation, and weak performance monitoring. These findings are contextualised by reference to previous work in the field with particular emphasis on the discontinuities between legal requirements and local initiatives.
Open Access
Description, diagnosis, prescription: a critique of the application of co- evolutionary models to natural resource management.
(Cambridge University Press, 2006-12-01T00:00:00Z) Jeffrey, Paul; McIntosh, Brian S.
To support moves towards more sustainable modes of natural resource management, the research community has been engaged in an evaluation of paradigms, theories and methods which might provide useful and usable insights into such a complex problem set. A particularly influential family of theoretical models concerned with the processes and dynamics of species evolution has been adopted from the fields of biology and ecology. This paper scrutinizes the relevance of biological evolutionary theory to sustainable natural resource management beyond identification of the core analogy, namely that both natural resource management and ecological systems are characterized by multiple interacting elements requiring systemic interpretation. A review of the workings of co-evolutionary theory within its intellectual homeland of biology and ecology leads to a critical evaluation of its use as a descriptive model outside of these domains. Findings from this assessment identify a number of fractures in meaning as the co-evolutionary model is transferred between disciplinary fields, suggesting that the transposition has been conducted without sufficient rigour or consistency. A measured reinterpretation of the applicability of the co- evolutionary model to natural resources management is thereby undertaken. Using water management as a context, the paper posits a series of phenomena which might provide a focus for the application of the co-evolutionary model outside of biology and ecology. In conclusion, the paper argues that the research community needs to move beyond a consideration of the complex implications of co-evolutionary processes to the establishment of a firm, process-based definition of co-evolution as a type of change.
Open Access
Development of a Bayesian network based hybrid-decision support process for potable water management in the context of the water framework directive
(Cranfield University, 2012-09) Jackson, Kate; Howsam, Peter; Parsons, David; Jeffrey, Paul
Uncertain and complex environmental legislation governing the management of water resources has presented significant challenges to those responsible for identifying investment options to manage potable water supplies. This study aimed to develop a decision support process to enable a UK water company to understand and characterise the complex and uncertain implications of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) on the management of potable water supply. A flexible, exploratory and participatory approach was adopted, and included a central reference group comprised of managers representing different departments within the water company. Semi-structured interviews, informal discussions, focus groups, field visits, water company data, academic and legislative documentation, as well as UK water sector literature and observations by the researcher provided data which informed the criteria for and the population of a new Bayesian Network (BN) based Hybrid-Decision Support Process (Hybrid-DSP). Using BNs as a basis for decision support allowed the integration of diverse variables, as well as identifying and representing the relationships between them. The visual representation that BNs provided of the interrelationships between the variables, facilitated organisational learning in relation to the implications of the WFD for potable water management, which led to clearer identification of potential organisational responses. This study demonstrates the practical implications for the use of BNs within a water company in the UK. Furthermore a new BN based Hybrid-DSP has been developed through this study, which offers a systematic and holistic template to identify and analyse water company responses to the implementation of environmental legislation.
Open Access
An empirical evaluation of ICT tools designed to support water environmental awareness
(Cranfield University, 2005-12) Swinford, Amanda; Jeffrey, Paul
The United Nations launched their 'Decade for Sustainable Development', which directly relates to Education for Sustainable Development, a new environmental management system for schools. The formal education process provides a key testing ground for the development of new Infori-nation and Communication Technology (ICT) tools designed to raise environmental awareness. Several types of purpose designed ICT tool are available, but there is a distinct lack of empirical research into their design and effectiveness. Strategic objectives performance takes the central role in the work reported here. A number of strategic objectives of the use of ICT tools were identified; learning, education, trust, motivation, commitment, inclusion, justice and openness. A number of prc-existing software platforms, each specifically designed to provide environmental education and to raise awareness specifically focussing on issues surrounding water were selected and forinally evaluated under controlled conditions with small groups of evaluators. The respondents involved in this investigation included the developers of the tools thernselves, school and postgraduate students (representing users) and experts from academia and industry. The developers of the tools were asked which strategic objectives they considered when they designed their respective tools and the degree to which their tools promoted the strategic objectives was tested in evaluation sessions involving the users. The results from the evaluation sessions involving the users and the experts revealed that strategic objectives such as learning, education, trust and openness were promoted by the tools to some degree, whilst objectives such as justice, motivation and inclusion were promoted to a lesser degree. Whilst it is possible that the tools evaluated simply do not promote the objectives listed, the evaluation methodology adopted in this investigation may go some way to explaining why only certain strategic objectives were found to be promoted. A discussion into the possible methods by which the presence of these strategic objectives could be determined is presented in the concluding chapters of the thesis.

Browsing by Author "Jeffrey, Paul"

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