From 25th to 27th September WRL senior researcher Linda Mezule participated in LifeSciences Baltics 2018 event (https://lsb2018.com/) that is the only international forum in the Baltics for world-class biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices experts from all around the world. Linda presented a poster that describes all WRL competences in the field of fluorescent imaging and new microbial identification tools.
On 20th of September the results of the 3rd call for INTERREG Baltic Sea region (https://www.interreg-baltic.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/News/2018_all_news/2018.10_all/2018.10.01-projects_approved_3nd_call_overview.pdf) Projects were announced. One of the Projects to be funded will be NOAH lead by Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture from Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia (https://www.ttu.ee/institutes/department-of-civil-engineering-and-architecture/).
The project will tackle the challenge of reducing urban stormwater runoff and the spillages of untreated wastewater into the receiving waters caused by extreme weather such as heavy rains and floods. NOAH develops a new layer for extreme weather events to be used in computer based modelling of drainage. By combining this modelling with traditional city planning techniques municipal planning shifts from fragmented individual site based planning to a holistic approach covering the entire urban catchment.
In the NOAH project RTU will be represented by Water Research Laboratory and Spatial and Regional Development Research laboratory both from Faculty of Civil Engineering. RTU team will be complemented by Department of Modelling and Simulation in the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology.
Three municipal enterprises from Latvia will be involved in the NOAH Project: Jurmalas udens Ltd (http://www.jurmalasudens.lv/), Liepaja municipal authority “Komunālā pārvalde” (http://www.kpliepaja.lv/index.php/lv/) and Ogre municipality (http://www.ogresnovads.lv/).
NOAH Project will begin in 01.01.2019.
From 24th to 28th of September the staff members of Water Research Laboratory Jānis Rubulis, Dāvids Štēbelis, Tālis Juhna and Jānis Zviedris (representing as well company Inducont and CleanTech Latvia) visited Leeuwarden (Netherlands). In these days were official kick-off meeting of the iWatermap project (https://www.interregeurope.eu/iwatermap/).
The meeting was dedicated for exchange of information regarding the critical mass in the water sector in all partner countries/regions.
The meeting was attended by several Latvian stakeholders. From RTU Engineering High School (http://www.izv.lv/?lang=en) joined chemistry teacher Laura Fjodorova, from CleanTech Latvia (https://cleantechlatvia.com/en/home/) Evija Pudāne and Andrey Belogorsky (also representing company Karme Filtrs http://karme.com/en).
Within the framework of the iWatermap project, cooperation between the Latvian water industry stakeholders will be strengthened taking into account experience of the iWatermap consortium leader Wetsus (https://www.wetsus.nl/).
The iWatermap project has activated the collaboration of the Water Research Laboratory with CleanTechLatvia, which focuses on the development of research topics defined by the original equipment manufacturers. Also, better targeted cooperation with the RTU Engineering High School is expected for high school students to test their talent in research related to the water sector.
Within the framework of the project, the issue of lifelong learning in the water sector will be activated, which is critical for municipal companies in the context of the aging of employees, as shown by data collected by the State Employment Agency (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq4tLa1UCAM).
The iWatermap meeting was held at the same time as the European Water Tech Week (EWTW 2018), which brought together hundreds of stakeholders and during event sixth global water technology innovation hubs signed agreement of cooperation:
From 20th till 21th of June the Water Research Laboratory researchers Janis Rubulis and Sandis Dejus visited SIA Madonas Ūdens.
The purpose of the visit was together with SIA Madonas Ūdens to carry out a study and analysis of the risks of the water supply system of the city of Madona. From the company participated chairman of the board Guntars Dambenieks, technical director Guntis Šahno and wastewater treatment plant, iron separation station manager Kaspars Bremsmith. In the end, a priority risk prevention program was drawn up.
Madona has been selected as a pilot site for testing the concept of water safety plans in Latvia. During the visit, we also got acquainted with the water extraction and treatment facilities, as well as SIA Madonas Ūdens demonstrated the city and the other 14 managed water supply network infrastructure and maintenance management software (CMMS) for scheduling daily work.
On 29th of May the iWatermap Water Technology Innovation Roadmaps project was held in Brussels, bringing together all the partners involved in the project, including the Water Research Laboratory. The meeting sought answers to various questions. Do the university and the manufacturing companies fully cooperate? Are manufacturing companies willing to invest in R & D? Is the university looking for new talents purposefully? Does the university have anything to offer to companies? Do water companies start projects with public funding? Is there enough critical mass to make water technology in Latvia RIS3? One of the main objectives of the project is to look for answers to these and similar issues and improve the innovation ecosystem in the water sector.
The project partners also participated in the ERRIN conference «Water Technology & Circular Economy» on 30th of May.
The iWatermap project launch meeting will take place from 24 to 27 September in the framework of the European Water Tech Week (EWTW; http://www.watercampus.nl/ewtw2018/).
Find out more about each project partner here:
https://www.wetsus.nl/; https://www.fryslan.frl/; http://www.creacz.com/en/; http://www.agrofoodmurcia.com/; http://www.adrnordest.ro/; https://www.ceb.uminho.pt/; https://www.crete.gov.gr/; http://izm.gov.lv/en/
On 23th of May Water Research Laboratory senior researcher Janis Rubulis and researcher Sandis Dejus, was attended the Water Management Conference of the Baltic States, which strengthened contacts with the representatives of the entire Baltic States. During the event, the topical issues of the water supply companies and the necessary research solutions were discussed, as well as about possible cooperation models for the improvement of the technical base of the Riga Technical University. Jānis Rubulis shared his experience with the need for water safety plans and the potential implementation of the lecture «Implementation of water safety plans in Latvia», while Sandis Dejus presented the audience with current issues in the treatment of industrial wastewater with a presentation «The challenges and success stories of industrial wastewater treatment».
On 17th of May Latvian Television program «Izziņas Impulss» was devoted to how to turn waste into resources. Also our Water Research Laboratory scientists, lead researcher Linda Mezule and scientific assistant Martins Strods, talked and showed how to get biofuels from straw.
You can watch more here (starting at 18:58):
https://ltv.lsm.lv/…/17.05.2018-izzinas-impulss./6.serija…./
On 9th of May for the third time Jaunmoku Palace Museum organized Nature Day for Educational Activities for students from 4th till 9th classes. This year water was selected as a theme for the Nature Day and that’s why the Water Research Laboratory was also invited to participate in the event. Our doctoral students Aigars Lavrinovics and Marta Frolova, as well as scientific assistant Martins Strods and exchange student Lina Marcela Castañeda from Columbia, shared their knowledge of the waterway from the natural reservoirs to the water trough. The biggest satisfaction of the day is the student’s perception that we have made them smarter in matters related to drinking water.
From the 7th to 11th of May, the 10th Eastern European Young Water Professionals Conference, organized by the IWA (International Water Association), convened in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, bringing together new researchers from the water and wastewater sector, students and engineers from all over the world.
The conference was attended by our Water Research Laboratory PhD students and researchers Sandis Dejus and Brigita Dalecka. During the conference, Sandis gave an insight into his study entitled «Evaluation of the Affected Area after the Contamination Event in the Drinking Water Distribution System», while Brigita participated in a poster session with a presentation «Simple Screening of Fungal Strains to Determine Potential Applicatin for the Wastewater Treatment Process» demonstrating mushroom potential wastewater from hazardous substances. During the conference, our specialists also upgraded the training workshops «Water Safety Planning & Crisis Management» and «WaterCad Technology».