Environmental Engineering · ITB

Water & Wastewater Engineering

Research, education, and collaboration in water supply, wastewater treatment, and environmental biotechnology.

Research Group Overview

The Water & Wastewater Engineering Research Group (Rekayasa Air dan Limbah Cair, RALC) was established in 2006 through the combination of the Water and Wastewater expertise groups. Its vision is to become an excellent and dependable group in water and wastewater engineering and, together with other research groups, support ITB as a centre of excellence in Asia.

RALC contributes to societal development through innovative, high-quality education, research, and community engagement in water and wastewater engineering, addressing both local and global development challenges.

Its members are graduates of universities in the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, South Korea, France, and Indonesia. They supervise undergraduate and postgraduate research and work as research partners on projects supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, industry, domestic and international partner institutions, and internal ITB grants.

Research Areas

RALC comprises five areas of expertise. Its research connects treatment technologies with the planning and operation of water and wastewater systems.

Drinking Water Supply Engineering

Integrated water supply systems, including wastewater recycling in industrial zones; domestic and small-scale treatment using ozone and membranes; and treatment of water containing humic acid.

Wastewater Treatment

Biological treatment of high-strength organic wastewater, bioenergy production, treatment of textile and other industrial wastewater, and constructed wetlands for domestic wastewater.

Sewerage & Drainage Systems

Sewerage and drainage research includes the potential use of sewers as bioreactors for domestic wastewater treatment.

Environmental Biotechnology

Bioremediation of soil and sludge contaminated by hydrocarbons and the development of biotechnology for environmental pollution control.

Sludge Treatment

Sludge treatment is one of RALC’s five core areas of expertise, alongside water supply, wastewater treatment, sewerage and drainage, and environmental biotechnology.

The FTSL roadmap also highlights mining wastewater treatment, acid mine drainage prevention, mine-water reuse and recovery, membrane and advanced treatment technologies, resource recovery, and waste-to-energy applications.

Research Project Examples

Examples include research documented by the group and supervised student studies in environmental biotechnology, sanitation, and mine water.

Water, Sanitation & Biotechnology

Selection and characterisation of petroleum-degrading microorganisms in high-salinity environments.
Development of biotechnology products for environmental pollution control.
Bioremediation of land and water bodies contaminated by petroleum spills.
Potential occurrence of microplastics in domestic wastewater treatment plants and runoff.
Modification of septic tanks to remove organic matter, nutrients, and pathogenic microorganisms.
Resilient Indonesian Slums Envisioned (RISE).
Wastewater-informed early warning systems to minimise the impact of COVID-19 and Disease X.

Research at FTSL →

Mine Water & Environmental Geochemistry

Geochemical evolution and chromium behaviour in lateritic nickel mine water through long-term column leaching tests and PHREEQC modelling.
Continuous removal of hexavalent chromium from mine runoff: effects of electrical current type on electrode passivation during long-term electrocoagulation.
Acid mine drainage formation potential and contaminant behaviour in gold dry tailings, assessed using static and kinetic tests.
Geochemistry and water quality of a former sub-bituminous coal-mine pit lake, including its potential for post-mining use.
Nickel removal from mine runoff using clay and activated-quartz adsorption columns: effects of flow rate and column height-to-diameter ratio.

Collaboration & Community Engagement

RALC members collaborate with industry through research projects and consultancy-based community services. Their national project experience includes water supply and sanitation, domestic and industrial wastewater management, and remediation of sludge and soil contaminated by pollutants. These activities strengthen the connection between theoretical knowledge and practical engineering.

Members also collaborate with overseas universities and institutions to develop international research partnerships.

The group supports professional development through short courses in water and wastewater engineering and environmental biotechnology. Members contribute to national regulations on water supply, sanitation, and waste management as experts serving central and local government.

Discuss a Collaboration →