Babar Mahmood

Doctor of Philosophy, (Enviromental Engineering)
Study Completed: 2014
College of Sciences

Citation

Thesis Title
Decision support tools to reduce the risk of groundwater nitrate contamination at land treatment systems

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Mr Mahmood aimed to develop decision support tools to assist managers to reduce the risk of groundwater contamination at a land treatment system (LTS). Based on the findings of a field scale investigation, he developed a simple hydrological model to predict the occurrence of leaching events. This model was capable of predicting the timing and amount of leaching. The model could also be useful for managing effluent application during the drier months to avoid leaching and maximise the plants’ uptake of effluent nutrients prior to the inevitable leaching during the wetter winter months. A decision support system (DSS) based on LEACHN (the nitrogen version of the Leaching Estimation and Chemistry Model) was also developed to predict the movement of nitrogen in a LTS. The knowledge gained using this LEACHN based DSS will enable managers to monitor and manage LTSs in a way that minimises the impact of contaminant leachate.

Supervisors
Professor Russ Tillman
Professor David Horne
Mrs Janice Russell