Water

Our vision‌

Protecting and improving surface and groundwater resources.

Improving our understanding of human interaction with the water environment to underpin decision-making in the area of water governance.

To become the preeminent knowledge hub in Scotland on the interface between people and water, in terms of both contributing to science and informing policy.

Our aim

To develop the evidence base to support healthy water resources, water resource protection, and efficient water treatment.
Water resources play an essential part in human and environmental health, while being subjected to increasing anthropogenic demand, contamination and effects of climate change.

We focus on the protection and improvement of water resources and answer research questions of importance in supporting communities, policy and businesses to protect ecosystems and to increase circularity in our water economy.

Our strength lies in adopting multi- and trans-disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches, drawing on technology, social science, chemistry and biology.

Our workstreams focus on:

1. Behavioural and lifestyle interventions to develop awareness and protect watercourses.
2. Understanding community and stakeholder perspectives on water management issues.
3. Methods to improve water quality monitoring and analysis with chemical and biological techniques.
4. Advanced techniques for fresh and wastewater treatment, using physical, chemical and micro-biological approaches.
5. Application of the above to emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceutical residues.

We aim to develop research capacity externally through national and international collaboration, and internally through close integration of research students and peer support in all Water Research Group activities.