The goal of the Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering (MEWE) specialist group is to promote the rational and effective engineering of open microbial systems in the water cycle using emerging technologies and concepts in microbial ecology. MEWE seeks to do this through research, dissemination, outreach and dialogue with practitioners all over the world. This topic is of key importance to the water sector, since the advent of advanced microbial ecology techniques provide deep insight into how the water cycle functions, both from a treatment performance perspective as well as the global loss of water resources to pollution.
A topic of particular interest to MEWE at present is to better understand the link between microbial diversity and their function in the water system. Our goal is to foster greater collaboration with Industry, in order to develop novel, technology-oriented solutions and provide the most benefit to the water sector as quickly and effectively as possible. MEWE is also a strong supporter of the link between the IWA and the International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME) via the Biocluster (https://iwa-network.org/cluster/iwa-isme-biocluster).
MEWE is committed to forging strong ties with related IWA specialist groups, and in this regard the next meeting will be the Inaugural joint specialist conference of two International Water Association Specialist Groups: Microbial Ecology & Water Engineering (MEWE) and the Biofilm Specialist Group. Please see the conference website for further details: http://www.mewe2016.org/
MEWE also presents an award named after Ardern and Lockett in recognition of the Specialist Group’s strong link to the Activated Sludge process, and investigations into the microbial population dynamics of these systems. The Ardern-Lockett award recipients are selected based on their contributions to research and practice in the field of Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering. The award winner is selected by the MEWE Management Committee and presented at each Specialist Group conference.
