Ilgin Kocababuc

Ilgin is a PhD researcher in the School of Environmental Sciences, specialising in hydrological, biogeochemical and analytical sciences. His research focuses on carbon and nutrient budgets in integrated constructed wetlands (ICWs) in order to assess their potential for mitigating the risk of eutrophication caused by sewage effluent from small rural wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in collaboration with Anglian Water and the Norfolk Rivers Trust.

Scientific Background

Nature-based solutions to environmental pressures are increasingly attractive as they also provide multi-functional benefits. In rural areas, sewage effluent discharges from WWTPs are widely recognised as a driver of eutrophication and failure to meet environmental quality standards. Small rural WWTPs have no regulatory requirement to reduce nutrient concentrations in effluent prior to discharge and, in this regard, ICWs have emerged as an alternative, nature-based solution for effluent treatment. Initial studies indicate ICWs could provide an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective form of nutrient mitigation, but major research questions remain concerning their seasonal effectiveness and long-term ability to capture and cycle nutrients to reliably replace conventional treatment.

Research Methodology

Ilgin will provide a comprehensive evidence base with which to assess the effectiveness of ICWs at mitigating nutrient pollution released from small WWTPs. Initially focusing upon three ICWs installed at Anglian Water WWTPs in Norfolk, the project design includes an 18-month field and laboratory campaign, analysing water, sediment, vegetation and gas samples collected at hourly-to-monthly resolution from across the ICWs. The data will be used to compile a complete nutrient balance for dissolved, particulate, organic and gaseous phases of nitrogen and phosphorus to improve understanding of pollutant mobilisation and fate. Ilgin will assess the spatial and temporal dynamics of nutrient concentrations and loads through the ICWs to determine their capability to attenuate the impact of nutrient concentrations in downstream surface water bodies.