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Water and Environmental Engineering Group (GEAMA, University of A Coruña)

Universities and Academia

Contact Us:  geama@geama.org

 About 

The main goal of the Water and Environmental Engineering Group (GEAMA, University of A Coruña) is to generate new knowledge in the field of water resources management, in order to achieve a more efficient and sustainable use of water by the society. 

 Some of the topics in which we currently work are: 

- Forecast and management of flood risk 

- Monitoring and management of reservoirs and lakes 

- Design of port infraestructures and management of port operations 

- Design and management of sustainable urban drainage systems 

- Wastewater treatment and water quality in rivers 

- Impact of climate change on water resources 

Our work is funded by public research projects as well as by private companies, with which we work in close collaboration. We also work regularly with water management administrations and with non-governmental organizations. The members of our group are involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education in water resources, and we regularly organise seminars and specialized training courses aimed at professionals of the water sector. More information about our group in www.geama.org.

 Organization Activities/ Business Field 

The group is organised in 4 teams: 

Hydraulic engineering 

• Flood risk 

• Water resources management 

• Sustainable Urban Drainage Sytems 

Hydrology and applied geology 

• Hydrothermal and geothermal energy 

• Mining restoration 

• Groundwater quality 

• Saltwater intrusion 

• Surface and groundwater resources 

• Applied geology 

Environmental and sanitary engineering 

• Integrated Management of Pollution on Sanitation and Drainage Systems in Wet Weather 

• Water Sensitive Urban Design and Sustainable Urban Drainage Techniques 

• Tratement of urban wastewater 

• Pressures on marine and continental water bodies produced by wastewater discharges 

• Water in rural areas (small towns and diffuse pressures) 

• Governance and strategic management of water and land

Maritime and port engineering 

• Shore protection structures 

• Development of management and decision-making systems in port operations 

• Modelling and field campaigns in port facilities and coastal environments

 Products/Services 

• Integrated water resources management at river basins and urban areas

Water is a key driver of economic and social development while it also has a basic function in maintaining the integrity of the natural environment. Both natural and urban areas have to be concerned with Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which necessarily includes the concept of catchment unity and governance. 

At river basin catchment, the different actors involved in IWRM have to make difficult decisions on water allocation, water demands, water quality and water related risks like flooding. Drivers such as demographic and climatic changes further increase the stress on water resources. The traditional fragmented approach is no longer viable and a more holistic approach to water management is essential which include the analysis of the whole system. GEAMA researchers have proven experience in the modelling and monitoring different elements of the water cycle, such as water supply, flood risk management, wastewater treatment, river and lakes water quantity and quality, applied hydrogeology and even port and maritime environments. 

At urban areas, the IWRM has been also integrated at GEAMA portfolio by means of the Water Sensitivity Urban Design concepts, aiming to transform the classical urban water cycle into an integrated management of the urban water system in new models of sustainable urban development. In this new paradigm, stormwater management play a fundamental role in which Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) has to be included.

• Water and environmental engineering large research infrastructures

The GEAMA group has developed in the last few years singular large research infrastructures at the CITEEC technological center. A virtual visit to the main facilities of the CITEEC is available at the center website https://www.udc.es/citeec/citeec360/. The facilities offer to other public and private institutions the capability of perform singular experiments and novel instrumentation in the following research topics. 

HYDROGEOLOGY AND APPLIED GEOLOGY 

The facilities of the Rock Laboratory are located in CITEEC and at the Civil Engineering School. The laboratory has a versatile equipment with which it is possible to carry out from basic and advanced tests of great instrumental complexity. The modular conception of the equipment allows its restructuring to adapt to the needs of each project.

HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING LABORATORY 

CITEEC’s Hydraulics Laboratory facilities allow to address problems related to almost any area of hydraulic engineering, including both pressurized and free-flowing flows. In recent years, the CITEEC Hydraulics Laboratory has specialized in the development of physical and numerical models related to urban water systems, for which it maintains close collaboration with the Sanitary and Environmental Engineering Laboratory. Some examples are the large scale rainfall simulators (at street and block scale), the Bens WWTP flume feed with real wastewater or the large model of a water supply system.

SANITARY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

The need to treat wastewater is now a fact that no one questions anymore. Preserving and recovering our aquatic ecosystems and the need to maintain the water resource with sufficient quality for other uses has led to the appearance of different wastewater treatment technologies. A wastewater treatment process testing unit is available, consisting of a modular structure that allows the configuration of different types of processes (physical-chemical, biological, and other). Furthermore, the laboratory has several monitoring equipment for monitoring real sewer systems (pipes, CSO chambers, WWTP, surface deposited pollution, etc).

MARITIME AND PORT ENGINEERING 

In response to the demand of the society, port and coastal engineering is face with the study, project and build in a complex and dynamic marine environment. With reference to the field of experimentation, the facilities built at CITEEC have the capacity to carry out the following tests: 

• Large-scale structural tests under the action of medium or extreme waves. 

• On-site study of the behavior of dikes, docks and beaches. 

• Tests on estuaries, large ports and coastal forms. Hydrodynamics and pollution. A channel and a dock with the capacity to generate real random waves and currents are available for testing in reduced models.