About Us
An international centre of research excellence and experimentation for wastewater management technology.
We are a world-leading research space
We are developing cutting-edge solutions for sustainable wastewater treatment. We are delivering:
- the ability to reduce the costs and timescales of designing novel biological treatment processes
- innovative technologies that harness biology to clean wastewater
- demonstrations of sustainable approaches to wastewater treatment never tested before
We are reducing barriers to innovation by:
- sharing the costs
- offering control at scale
- accounting for uncertainty by allowing variation to be studied
At BEWISe, Newcastle University and Northumbrian Water Group are working together to:
- speed up innovation in sustainable wastewater treatment
- experiment with low-energy biological treatment technologies
- develop low-cost ways to generate energy from waste
What we do
We speed up the translation and uptake of new innovations by the water sector.
We undertake experimental investigation of water engineering innovations across a range of scales. This is scientifically rigorous and industrially credible. We are setting a new global standard for wastewater research.
Pilot scale studies of wastewater treatment
Many successful lab-scale innovations never see practical application because they are rarely trialled at the pilot scale. Scale-up is costly and uncertain. It can be difficult to fund and risky to carry out.
Pilot-scale studies are often conducted without replication. They can fail without understanding the underlying causes. When they fail, they are unlikely to be repeated or published. We offer replicated pilot-scale wastewater treatment plants.
We use real wastewater at a scale that reflects the complexity of wastewater treatment.
Testing innovative ways of treating wastewater
Microbes are key to creating sustainable pathways for clean water and sanitation. There are 1018 individual bacteria and thousands of species in a treatment plant. BEWISe makes it possible to validate new simulations of how microbes interact within a treatment plant.
We explore different types of bacteria and identify how they behave in different sewage treatment processes.
We provide the resources to reduce the costs and timescales of designing novel biological treatment processes.
We investigate sustainable approaches to wastewater treatment that have rarely been tested before at this scale. We test and replicate different elements of the wastewater treatment process. This allows us to develop new ways of treating wastewater with greater confidence.
We are speeding up the transition from existing energy-intensive treatment processes to low-carbon alternatives with lower running costs.
We carry out research on low-temperature wastewater treatment for renewable energy generation.
Meeting challenges
The global challenges for wastewater treatment are significant for industry, for the environment, and for society.
We need to do more, at lower cost, and with minimal ecological impact.
Wastewater treatment plays a vital role in the circular economy by recycling water to the natural environment. However, it is energy intensive. It accounts for 1.5% of total UK electricity use. But there is nearly ten times as much chemical energy in wastewater than the energy we use to treat it. In the future, wastewater could become a source of low-carbon energy generation.
Besides energy reduction and nutrient recovery, society faces additional challenges to protect the aqueous environment. We must ensure the safety of water and prevent burdens on existing infrastructure.
In response to these and other challenges, we are developing a new suite of beneficial sustainable technologies. These technologies are:
- simulated at the computer
- trialled in the lab
- translated to real world application
