E&EM doctoral candidate Ed Hagarty is scheduled to present the results of his dissertation research at the 3rd Joint Specialty Conference of the Water Environment Federation, European Water Association and Japan Sewage Works Association. The conference, which is entitled Sustainable Water Management in Response to 21st Century Pressures, will be held in Munich, Germany on May 5-9, 2008.
Ed’s presentation is entitled “Decision-Aiding Tool for the Prioritization of Small Scale Water and Wastewater Projects Based on Public Health Risk.” It focuses on prioritization of water and wastewater management, investment decisions using multi-criteria decision analysis. The research includes the development of a risk-based decision-aiding system that will help prioritize water and wastewater improvement projects to minimize potential health risks.
Ed has been working with the National Park Service, U.S. Public Health Service, and Centers for Disease Control to develop a risk model to assist environmental managers in prioritizing small-scale water and wastewater projects on the basis of public health. His decision-aiding system identifies risk factors that, when combined with a field observation, allows a score for each potential water or wastewater improvement project under consideration. Based on input from subject matter experts, the risk-based decision-aiding system will establish the relative importance of each risk element so that projects can be prioritized to provide the most public health benefit for the funds available.
The conference program will have a practical focus for managers, planners and designers in water management. It will deal with pressures such as changes in weather, increases in water usage, greater demands in terms of risk avoidance and changes in population demography. It will be largely focused on the practical consequences of global climate change and how these can be mitigated and accommodated. The program is designed to fit in with the interests of the delegates and exhibitors at the concurrent 15th International Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Refuse and Recycling, also known as The International Fair Trade Association 2008. IFAT 2008 is a trade fair that will revolve around environmental solutions. It will be oriented to the future of environmental technology, focusing on everything from high tech to low tech including comprehensive solution approaches to water wastewater solid waste and recycling issues.
Click here for more information on the conference can be found at the European Water Association.
A copy of the abstract for Ed’s presentation can be seen by clicking on the following link: