Water Quality Research Australia

Monash University, through the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, was a participant in the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment from its establishment in July 1995 until the CRC ended in June 2008. DEPM was responsible for the public health research program of this national water research organisation.

The CRC has now been succeeded by a new national research centre: Water Quality Research Australia (WQRA) in which Monash University is also a member. This centre will build on the foundation established by the CRC and will undertake collaborative research of national application on drinking water quality, recycled water and relevant areas of wastewater management. 

Drinking water research within DEPM spans the areas of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit and the Occupational and Environmental Health Unit. Topics under investigation include the health effects of a range of chemical and microbiological constituents of drinking water. A major innovation in this field has been the development of methods to measure the effects of water quality on human health. This contrasts with, and complements previous emphasis on the measurement of chemicals and microbes in water.