Sand may provide the key to protecting coastal waterways

Southern Cross University has received $303,000 in new national funding for a project to assist in the management of tropical coastal waterways.

The funding through the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects scheme was announced yesterday (June 23) by Senator Kim Carr, federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Southern Cross University has received the funding for a project led by Professor Bradley Eyre, director of the University’s Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry Research. The Centre’s mission is to be a world-leader in biogeochemical research that is regionally relevant and globally significant.

“This is really good news,” Professor Eyre said. “This allows the continuation of a project we have been doing in the Cook Islands which has the potential to provide cheap alternatives for treating waste water, and an extension of a project we have been doing at Heron Island, in Queensland, looking at nitrogen cycling in permeable sands.

“We are looking at the links between the groundwater system and what flows through the beach sand into the coastal waters. In particularly, we are looking at how the nutrients sourced from the groundwater are processed within those permeable sands.

"Our results to date show that coral sand has a unique ability to process nutrients. The whole idea is that in developing countries, such as the Cook Islands, we could use those sands for treating waste water.”

Professor Eyre said many Pacific Island nations relied heavily on their pristine marine environments to support tourism-based economies, but they were under threat from poor sewage treatment and nutrient contamination of groundwater.

"The capacity of coral sands to process nutrients may also be the saviour of developing Pacific Island nations," Professor Eyre said.

The total cost of the three-year research project is $528,000, which includes a new ARC Fellowship for Dr Dirk Erler. The project is being done in collaboration with AusAID (Australian Agency for International Development), the Cook Islands Ministry of Infrastructure and Planning, the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and the University of Queensland.

“This is a great example of an international issue being resolved through the work of a regional Australian university,” Professor Eyre said.

Senator Carr, who announced funding for a total of 218 projects, said the Linkage Projects scheme enabled Australian institutions to undertake innovative and cutting-edge research projects in collaboration with industry and other partners.

The Linkage Projects scheme is part of the Australian Research Council’s National Competitive Grants Program, which nurtures the creative abilities and skills of Australia's most promising researchers.

Photo: Professor Bradley Eyre is heading a research project which has just received new national ARC funding.