Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit

The Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit (abbreviated IMWaRU) is a research group. They are part of the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, JohannesburgUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Research Units: IMWaRU , retrieved 6 November 2014. and have been operating there since 2011.

Unit Structure
The unit deals with many water based issues and problematic circumstances in industry and miningHarding, KG, 2014, Accounting for water use in the process industries, ChemTech, April 2014, p3, retrieved 14 November 2014. settings.

Collaboration
The unit works with the Schools of Law, Chemistry, Civil and Mining engineering at the University.

Members of the group have given presentations at: 
South African Institution of Chemical Engineering 2012 (Champagne Sports Resorts, South Africa);Harding, KG, Mkhonsa, T, 2012.  Current Water Accounting Methods for Mining Operations, South African Institution of Chemical Engineering Conference 2012, Champagne Sports Resort, South Africa, 16–19 September 2012.Dwarkapersad, U, Harding, KG, 2012.  Life Cycle Assessment on Unilever’s Premium Soap Brands: Lux and Lifebuoy, South African Institution of Chemical Engineering Conference 2012, Champagne Sports Resort, South Africa, 16–19 September 2012.Gina, N, Gina, D, Harding, KG, 2012.  Effective and Efficient Ozone Use on Cooling Water Systems, South African Institution of Chemical Engineering Conference 2012, Champagne Sports Resort, South Africa, 16–19 September 2012.Macingwane, M, Harding, KG, 2012.  Life Cycle Assessment on a Food Manufacturing Facility, South African Institution of Chemical Engineering Conference 2012, Champagne Sports Resort, South Africa, 16–19 September 2012.
Water Institute of Southern Africa 2012 (Cape Town, South Africa);Sheridan C, Koller, E, de Pretto, A, 2012.  A Comparison of charcoal and slag based constructed wetlands for acid mine drainage remediation , WISA2012, Cape Town, South Africa, 6–10 May 2012, retrieved 14 November 2014.
International Conference on Energy, Nanotechnology and Environmental Sciences 2013 (Johannesburg, South Africa);Mavukwana, A, Jalama, K, Ntuli, F, Harding, K, 2013.  Simulation of sugarcane bagasse gasification using Aspen Plus, International Conference on Energy, Nanotechnology and Environmental Sciences, International Conference Proceedings of Planetary Scientific Research Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, 15–16 April 2013, p70-74.
International Conference on Power Science and Engineering 2013 (Paris, France);Mavukwana, A, Jalama, K, Harding, K, 2013.  Simulation of South African corncob gasification with Aspen Plus: A sensitivity analysis, International Conference on Power Science and Engineering (ICPSE 2013), Paris, France, 20–12 December 2013.
Water in Mining 2013 (Brisbane, Australia);Osman, A, Crundwell, FK, Harding, K, Sheridan, C, Hines, K, Du Toit, A, 2013.  Water Accountability and Efficiency at a Base Metals Refinery, Water in Mining 2013, Brisbane, Australia, 26–28 November 2013.Haggard, E, Sheridan, CM, Harding, KG, 2013.  Water Footprint for a South African Platinum Mine, Water in Mining 2013, Brisbane, Australia, 26–28 November 2013.
Water in Mining 2014 (Viña del Mar, Chile);Ranchod, N, Sheridan, CM, Plint, N, Slater, K, Harding, KG, 2014.  Assessing the Water Footprint and Associated Impacts for a South African Platinum Mining Operation, Water in Mining 2014, Viña del Mar, Chile, 28–30 May 2014.Sheridan, C, Brennan, M, Bye, A, Stange W, Woodley A, 2014. Determining the effect of Grade Engineering® on the water account of a copper mine , Water in Mining, Viña del Mar, Chile, 28–30 May 2014.
Water Institute of Southern Africa 2014 (Mbombela, South Africa);Sheridan, CM, Janet, JP, Drake, DC, Rumbold, K, Magowo, W, Harding KG, 2014.  Increasing Pumping Depth in the Long-term Management of Acid Mine Drainage, WISA2014, Mbombela (Nelspruit), South Africa, 25–28 May 2014.Haggard, E, Sheridan, CM, Harding, KG, 2014.  Water Footprint for a South African Platinum Processing Mine, WISA2014, Mbombela (Nelspruit), South Africa, 25–28 May 2014.Ranchod, N, Sheridan, CM, Plint, N, Slater, K, Harding, KG, 2014.  Water Accounting for a South African Platinum Mine, WISA2014, Mbombela (Nelspruit), South Africa, 25–28 May 2014.WISA, 2014.  Speaker list , Water Institute of Southern Africa 2014 Conference, Mbombela, South Africa, retrieved 16 December 2014.
International Conference on Acid Rock Drainage 2015 (Santiago, Chile);Sheridan, C, Bonner, R, Bruyns, L, Burgess, J, Drake, D, Janet, JP, Harding, K, Rumbold, K, Saber, N, 2015.  Conceptual Project on Eliminating Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) by Directed Pumping, ICARD, Santiago, Chile, 21–24 April 2015.
25th Annual SETAC European Meeting 2015 (Barcelona, Spain);Pena, C, Harding, KG, Sonneman, GW, Gemechu, ED, 2015.  Material supply opportunity as a new perspective to address the "criticality" issue from a developing countries context: the case of Chile and South Africa, SETAC Europe 25th Annual Meeting, Barcelona, Spain, 3–7 May 2015
 African Utility Week 2015 (Cape Town, South Africa);Harding, KG, 2015.  Why is measuring water important?, African Utility Week, Cape Town, South Africa, 13–14 May 2015.
 Sustainability Week 2015 (Water Resource Seminar) (Pretoria, South Africa);Alive2Green, 2015.  Water Resource Seminar Speaker list, Sustainability Week 2015, CSIR ICC, Pretoria, South Africa, 23–25 June 2015.
 Life Cycle Management 2015 (Bordeaux, France); Govender, V, Harding, KG, 2015. Water footprint analysis of the South African (SA) paper and pulp industry, Life Cycle Management Conference (LCM2015), Bordeaux, France, 30 August – 2 September 2015Harding, KG, Basson, L, Brent, A, Friedrich, E, Janse van Rensburg, P, Mbohwa, C, Notten, P, Pineo, C, Ruiters, L-H, von Blottnitz, H, 2015. Status and prospects of life-cycle assessment in South Africa, Life Cycle Management Conference (LCM2015), Bordeaux, France, 30 August – 2 September 2015 Harding, KG, Dheda, D, Sheridan, CM, McIntyre, N, 2015. Water accounting methods for platinum mines in South Africa , Life Cycle Management Conference (LCM2015), Bordeaux, France, 30 August – 2 September 2015 Macingwane, M, Harding, KG, 2015. Life-cycle assessment on a starch facility in South Africa , Life Cycle Management Conference (LCM2015), Bordeaux, France, 30 August – 2 September 2015
 School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering 21st Birthday conference;Harding, KG, 2015.  Modelling & (cradle-to-grave) environmental optimisation of industrial processes, School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering 21st Anniversary Conference, 23 September 2015, Sturrock Park, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
 Water Institute of Southern Africa 2016 (Durban, South Africa)Osman, A, Crundwell, F, Harding KG, Sheridan, CM, Du Toit, A, 2016.  Application of the Water Footprinting Method and Water Accounting Framework to a Base Metals Refining Process, WISA2016, Durban, South Africa, 15-19 May 2016.Harding, KG, Mofomate, BF, Selato, TR, 2016.  Water footprint of a mixed use laboratory/office building at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, WISA2016, Durban, South Africa, 15-19 May 2016.Dheda, D, Sheridan, CM, Harding, KG, McIntyre, N, 2016.  Quantificaiton of water use in South African Platinum mines , WISA2016, Durban, South Africa, 15-19 May 2016.Chego, MP, Sheridan, CM, Harding, KG, 2016.  Design of a bio-hydrogen reactor for wastewater purification, WISA2016, Durban, South Africa, 15-19 May 2016.Brink, A, Sheridan, CM, Harding, KG, 2016.  Combined biological and advance oxidation process (AOP) for paper and pulp effluent treatment , WISA2016, Durban, South Africa, 15-19 May 2016.

Location
The main location IMWaRU is probably in the Richard Ward Building on the East campus of a University somewhere.

 Research 
The group has a broad range of research publications in the areas as listed below:

 Acid mine drainage (AMD).Sheridan , C, 2013. The Toxic Legacy of South Africa’s Gold Rush , IChemE presentation, Mining and Minerals special interest group, retrieved 7 November 2014.Sheridan, C, 2013.  Paying the Price , The Chemical Engineer, www.tcetoday.com, 30-32.

 Constructed wetlands (CW)

 Ecological Engineering

 Life-cycle assessment (LCA)Harding, KG, 2014.  LCA Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, UNEP/SETAC Presentation, Pretoria, South Africa.Harding, KG, 2013.  A Technique for Reporting Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) Results, Ecol Ind, 34, 1-6.Harding, KG, Dennis, JS, von Blottnitz, H, Harrison, STL, 2008.  A Life-Cycle comparison between inorganic or biological catalysis for the production of biodiesel, J. Clean. Prod., 16(13), 1368-1378. .Sebisto, T, Kharidzha, M, Harding KG, 2015.  Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Biodiesel, ChemTech, February 2015, 6-11, retrieved 23 March 2015.

 Water footprinting (WF)Sheridan, C, 2014.  Water footprinting, UNEP/SETAC Presentation, Pretoria, South Africa.Dhlamini, S, Mkhonza, T, Haggard, E, Osman, A, Crundwell, F, Sheridan, C, Harding KG, 2013.  An Introduction to Water Footprinting, Chemical Technology, Jan 2013, 29-33.Haggard, E, Sheridan, CM, Harding, KG, 2015. Quantification of water usage at a South African platinum processing plant, WaterSA, 41(2), 279-286.Ranchod, N, Sheridan, CM, Plint, N, Slater, K, Harding, KG, 2015.  Assessing the blue-water footprint of an opencast platinum mine in South Africa, WaterSA, 41(2), 287-293.
 prediction of water based malfunctions in drills and pick axes

 References 

Category:Research organizations
Category:2011 establishments
Category:2010s establishments in South Africa
Category:Organizations based in South Africa