Australian National University
Australian National University is a university that is part of the pulse of the water sector. Here we bring together everything it publishes on Smart Water Magazine: its news, its blogs and the events it takes part in.
Climate extremes in 2024 ‘wreaking havoc’ on the global water cycle
2024 was another year of record-breaking temperatures, driving the global water cycle to new climate extremes and contributing to ferocious floods and crippling droughts, a new report led by The Australian National University (ANU) shows. The 2024 Global Water Monitor Report, involving an international team of researchers and led by ANU Professor Albert van Dijk, […]
Better dams offer major benefits to farmers and livestock
Managing the water quality of farm dams is critical to the health of livestock as well as boosting crop production, according to new research from the Sustainable Farms group at The Australian National University (ANU). According to the ANU researchers, "enhancing" dams by erecting fencing would help mitigate the impacts of livestock and significantly improve […]
Innovative desalination technique demonstrates potential without electricity
Shuqi Xu and her PhD supervisor Dr Juan Felipe Torres combine passions for humanitarian engineering and scientific discovery in their work on thermodiffusive desalination — an energy-efficient method for removing salt from seawater.
Australia on track for unprecedented decades-long megadroughts, finds modeling study
Australia could soon see megadroughts that last for more than 20 years, according to new modeling from The Australian National University (ANU) and the ARC Center of Excellence for Climate Extremes. The research is published in a special edition of the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. The researchers' bleak findings are before factoring in human impact on […]
Study find Australians would pay to provide clean drinking water to remote communities
Australian households are willing to pay more than is needed to deliver safe drinking water to every Australian, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU). The survey of 3,523 people found that Australians are prepared to pay between $324 and $847 per year for 10 years to ensure good drinking water for […]
Record heat in 2023 worsened global droughts, floods and wildfires
Record heat across the world profoundly impacted the global water cycle in 2023, contributing to severe storms, floods, megadroughts and bushfires, new research from The Australian National University (ANU) shows. The findings are outlined in a new report released today by the Global Water Monitor Consortium and led by ANU researchers. Lead author Professor Albert Van […]
“More than ever, we need information on the current state of the water cycle”
The organisations and individuals that make up the Global Water Monitor Consortium share the goal of providing free and up-to-date information on climate and water anywhere in the world, measured by satellites and on the ground. In 2022, the Global Water Monitor Consortium launched an online data explorer and produced its first annual report, summarising […]
How plants can inspire new ways to extract value from wastewater
Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) are drawing inspiration from plants to develop new techniques to separate and extract valuable minerals, metals and nutrients from resource-rich wastewater. The ANU researchers are adapting plant 'membrane separation mechanisms' so they can be embedded in new wastewater recycling technologies. This approach offers a sustainable solution to help manage the resources required for the world's food, energy and water security by providing a way to harvest, recycle and reuse valuable metal, mineral […]
2022 water report: Global warming changing the water cycle
The third La Niña year in a row intensified existing droughts in the Americas, while causing floods in parts of Asia and Oceania, according to a first-of-its-kind report released by the Global Water Monitor Consortium, led by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU). The report found global warming is changing the water cycle across the planet, while […]