Research for making a difference in water quality locally and globally

Charles Sturt University researchers are using innovative technologies to improve water quality, including artificial intelligence (AI) and data mining. They’re conducting data-driven research to revise a water quality index (WQI) that will benefit communities in Australia and around the world.

The research is led by Associate Professor Azizur Rahman, Charles Sturt Statistics and Data Mining Research Group leader, and colleagues with the National University of Ireland.

The research addresses issues that have the potential for global impact. Surface water quality poses significant environmental, sociological, and economic risks in many parts of the world, including Australia.

“Due to population growth, industrialisation and urbanisation observed over many decades, freshwater usage and wastewater production have significantly increased. Both human activities and natural processes have caused a continuous degradation of surface water quality in recent decades,” said Professor Rahman of the need for the research.

“Our AI-integrated WQI model can indicate, for example, any pollutants in the water that are crucially important for the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Thus, the surface water quality assessment could be used to improve intervention-related outcomes such as better health of the reef through improved ecosystem and water.”

Many countries have adopted policies and guidelines to manage surface water quality and provide more effective water resource management to reverse negative trends. The updated WQI model and its information outputs can be used to support a range of local, state, national and international agencies to better manage water resources.

The research has been taken up and implemented by researchers and agencies in many countries including, Ireland, Poland, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, China and Japan.

The research team’s paper, ‘A comprehensive method for improvement of WQI models for coastal water quality assessment’, has been published in Water Research, the leading journal in the domain of water science and technology.