Stormwater&Sewers events

Stormwater&Sewers seminars 2026

The seminars are arranged as free Zoom webinars and open to anyone who is interested. However, registration is required to get a Zoom link. Sign up for the event using the link below each seminar.

No.36 Treatment Performance and Micropollutant Removal in Decentralized and Centralized Wastewater Treatment Plants in Luleå municipality

26 May 2026, 10:00-11:00

In this seminar, Rayssa Jacob, visiting researcher in environmental engineering from Rio de Janeiro State University – Brazil, will present insights from a comparative evaluation of decentralized and centralized wastewater treatment plants operating under subarctic climatic conditions in the municipality of Luleå as part of the ArcticSewlutions Project. The presentation will discuss how wastewater treatment plant scale, technology type, and cold-region conditions affect overall treatment performance, including general trends related to micropollutant removal.

Language: English

Registration is required, click here

Public defense of doctoral thesis in Urban Water Engineering - Youen Pericault

🕘 29 May 2026, 09:00

🏠 A117 Luleå University of Technology and online with Zoom

Language: English

Thesis:

• Coordinated Management of Urban Water Pipe Networks: Co-location and strategical rehabilitation planning with other infrastructure

Opponent: Associate Professor Franz Tscheikner-Gratl, NTNU Trondheim, Norway.

Chair: Professor Godecke-Tobias Blecken, Department of Civil Engineering and Natural Resources, Luleå University of Technology

• Contact: Youen Paricault

For more information about link to Zoom, contact Peter.Rosander@ltu.se

The management of municipal infrastructure is currently coordinated in various ways, both through established planning processes and the application of new technologies. For example, the renewal of water and wastewater (WW) pipelines and streets is often coordinated by sharing annual action plans. New co-location techniques are also being tested in Sweden, such as in Kiruna, where an insulated culvert has been used to install low-temperature district heating and WW pipelines within the same trench.

In his doctoral studies, Youen Pericault has investigated how coordination can be improved and integrated into decision-making processes to create societal benefits. The ability to prevent freezing while maintaining low drinking water temperatures in a shallow co-location solution was evaluated using temperature monitoring and a calibrated heat transfer model. The economic, environmental, social, and technical impacts of this solution were compared with traditional pipe-laying alternatives. He also explored synergies related to the coordinated renewal of WW and street networks, including the development of statistical models aimed at identifying optimal levels of coordination to support strategic renewal planning.

The results show that significant environmental and cost savings can be achieved in the long term by systematically synchronizing the replacement of adjacent WW pipelines and streets within a defined time frame, referred to as a “coordination window”. When applied to residential streets in Luleå, the model showed that a 20-year coordination window could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14% and capital costs by 22%. Implementing this approach requires the integration of GIS data across municipal departments, as well as the ability to assess renewal needs at both network and street levels in the short and medium term.

The study of the co-location solution in Kiruna demonstrated that shallow-laid WW pipelines can be maintained within a freeze-safe and hygienically safe temperature range using low-temperature district heating. However, drinking water temperatures above 15°C were observed on several occasions, which may be perceived as less desirable by users. Recommendations to address this issue in future system design have therefore been identified.

A life cycle comparison of different supply alternatives for water, wastewater, and heating showed that the co-location solution was the most cost-effective. However, its environmental performance depends on the energy source used for the low-temperature district heating.

Licentiate seminar in Urban Water Engineering – Levien Melse

🕘 4 June 2026, 10:00

🏠 C305 Luleå University of Technology and online with Zoom

Language: English

Thesis:

• Non-Target Analyses and Prioritization of Micropollutants in Greywater

Discussant: Associate Professor Foon Yin Lai, Division of Environmental Organic Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Chair: Associate Professor Helene Österlund, Department of Civil Engineering and Natural Resources, Luleå University of Technology

• Contact: Levien Melse

For more information about link to Zoom, contact Peter.Rosander@ltu.se

Source-separating sanitation involves the collection of household greywater in two streams, blackwater from toilets, and greywater from the rest of the household. Greywater is targeted for reuse due to the large quantity of the stream and the relative low amount of pollution present. However, a major constraint to both reuse and disposal of greywater is the presence of micropollutants from e.g., personal care products, pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and industrial processes. The overall aim of this licentiate thesis was to contribute knowledge on the presence of micropollutants in raw greywater, and to characterize and prioritize micropollutants for future research.