Water underpins our survival and our livelihoods. Cranfield’s research and training are shaping the solutions needed to deliver more resilient and sustainable water services and to protect the natural environment. No matter how you want to make a difference, our courses provide an opportunity for you to realise your potential.
“Cranfield is one of those leaders in the water sector – you keep bumping into people who have studied there. I’m a consultant working with a number of different clients including the Swiss Government, UNICEF and the World Bank, advising on water and sanitation. The way I work has been heavily influenced by the course I did at Cranfield. There was a strong emphasis on working within a team of professionals to achieve a solution, it was very multicultural, and that’s very much how I work today.”
Sean Furey,
Director Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN), (Community Water Supply Network MSc 1998, now called Water and Sanitation for Development)
£10 million
There has been over £10m investment in water science research facilities on our Cranfield campus in the past four years.
Over half of our Water learners come from outside the UK, representing over 40 countries.
(Figures from June 2022)
Research in action
Reducing environmental impact at Heathrow Airport
While noise pollution and carbon emissions are often perceived as the main environmental issues facing commercial airports, water is a core area of environmental management that affects numerous aspects of airport infrastructure and operations. Students on the Advanced Water Management master’s course have completed a range of thesis projects sponsored by Heathrow Airport to minimise the environmental impacts of its surface water runoff.
One key challenge is de-icers, which must be applied to aircraft and pavements to ensure safe operations in winter months but have been linked to ecological degradation in rivers that receive airport runoff. Students have worked closely with Heathrow’s Environment team to design and conduct new research to better understand the water quality problem, assess the ecological impacts in the river, and propose creative and effective nature-based solutions.
These projects have seen students conducting fieldwork on surrounding rivers, running laboratory experiments using cutting-edge analytical facilities, and applying the data analysis and visualisation skills that they learned during the course to hydrological, ecological and remote-sensing data.
“I chose to pursue a career in water and wastewater engineering due to the wide range of opportunities available in this sector, with the potential to work anywhere in the world.
“Cranfield Water Science Institute has strong links with the water and wastewater industry. Since graduating I have sponsored master’s projects, presented on the taught master’s programme, attended careers fairs and collaborated with Cranfield academics on research papers.”
Dr Emma Sharp,
Area Operations Business Lead, Severn Trent,
(Water Pollution Control Technology Programme MSc 2002 and Water PhD 2005)
£9.5 million invested in water treatment and infrastructure test facilities
As part of a major national initiative (the UK Collaboratorium for Research in Infrastructure and Cities - UKCRIC), we have enhanced and extended existing on site water and wastewater test facilities, used by both masters' and research students. New scientific insights generated through these facilities regularly inform government and water sector investments in the UK’s water infrastructure.
Investments include:
- new laboratories dedicated to the development of advanced sensors and point-of-use drinking water treatment devices,
- a breakthrough innovation hub to support design, rapid prototyping, and testing of new technologies,
- expansion of our pilot-scale test facilities to establish the National Research Facility for Water and Wastewater Treatment,
- 100 metre-long sewer loops for exploring the formation and control of fats, oils and greases (FOG) in sewers.
The new point-of-use laboratory in the George Solt, UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC) building