Proceedings of the Water Efficiency Conference 2022
Theme: Water resources resilience for small island developing states

14-16 December 2022 at The University of West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

  • Scientific Committee
  • Keynote Speakers
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Main Sponsor:
WASA and WRA logo



Tuesday 13 December 2022
  • 19:00 - 21:00: Welcome reception + registration
Hosted by The Honourable Harriet Cross, British High Commissioner to Trinidad & Tobago, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, West Indies.

DAY 1: Wednesday 14 December 2022

  • Welcome: Prof Edwin Ekwue (UWI, Trinidad and Tobago)
  •  Keynote address I: Prof Michelle Mycoo

Special session: Flooding and Resilience (Speakers' profiles)
  • Anwar Baksh: Flood risk management governance    
  • Katherine Badloo-Doerga: The national drainage plan    
  • Col. Dave Williams: Property-level floodproofing    
  • Pat Shako: Development and resilience   

Session 1: Flooding and Resilience (Chair: Prof Colin Hills)
  • Vishwanath Maraj, Vincent Cooper and Matthew Wilson: Optimal Design Storm Frequency for Flood Mitigation
  • Fazir Khan and Fey Mohammed: The Value of Hydrometry in Reducing Fluvial Flooding Footprints across the Caribbean - A Case Study In Dennery, Saint Lucia
  • John Monrose and Kiran Tota-Maharaj: Permeable pavements for stormwater management across Caribbeans Small Island Developing States
  • Godson Wogu, Kemi Adeyeye and Alex Copping: Analyzing climate gentrification in coastal neighbourhoods: A case study of Lagos, Nigeria
  • Farzad Piadeh, Kourosh Behzadian and Amir Alani: Multi-Step Flood Prediction in Drainage Systems Using Time-series Data Mining Techniques

Session 2: Resources, Environment and Climate Change (Chair: Dr Katherine Alfredo)
  • Queena Edwards and Vincent Cooper: Suitability of the SCS Type Temporal Distributions for Local Rainfall in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies
  • Mark Codling, Bheshem Ramlal and Dexter Davis: Examining the feasibility of GeoAI and IoT for Smart Flood Early Warning Systems for Local Communities in Caribbean Urban Spaces
  • Rikhi Ramkissoon, Krishpersad Manohar and Kiran Tota-Maharaj: Comparative Study of Solar-Enhanced Advanced Oxidation Processes for Water Treatment 
  • Portia Felix: Potential Impacts of Oil Spills in Coastal Waters on Water Supply
  • Ravi Baboolal and Vincent Cooper: The Impact of Climate Change on the Navet Reservoir, Trinidad

Session 3: Water Efficiency and Demand Management (Chair: Dr Harsha Ratnaweera)
  • Armando Silva Afonso and Carla Pimentel-Rodrigues: Nearly zero water buildings: contribution to adaptation and mitigation processes in urban environments
  • Seevali Surendran and Shelini Surendran: Water Demand Modelling and Analysis: United Kingdome, North American and Sri Lankan data
  • Sandra Costa, Ines Meireles and Vitor Sousa: Impact of climate changes on domestic hot water consumption
  • Goldie Davis: Water Distribution Challenges in North East Trinidad and Tobago
  • Kemi Adeyeye, Kaiming She, Ines Meireles, Vitor Sousa, Tao Wang and A. Bairi: Interpreting the technical versus the physical as drivers for shower water use  

Session 4: Water Quality (Chair: Prof Kit Fai Pun)
  • Mohamed T. Mito, Xianghong Ma, Hanan Albuflasa and Philip A. Davies: Renewable energy-powered reverse osmosis desalination: Solutions and opportunities for large-scale implementation 
  • Katelyn Long, Katherine Alfredo and Elon Cadogan: Microbial Activity in Potable Water Storage Tanks in Saint Peter, Barbados
  • Nimisha Tripathi, Colin Hills, Kiran Tota-Maharaj and James Hills: Biomass-based sorbents for stormwater treatment 
  • Kiran Tota-Maharaj and Simeon Keates: Advancing Solar Energy driven Heterogeneous Photo-Fenton processes for River Water Remediation 



DAY 2: Thursday 15 December 2022 [Industry day]

  • Keynote address II: Prof Maya Trotz

Industry presentations: Water security challenges and strategies in the 21st century (Chair: Engr Anthony Chadee) (Speakers' profiles)
  • Dr Chris Maharaj: APETT Opening statement            
  • Dr George Sammy: Water Security Challenges and Strategies in the 21st Century 
  • Dr Adrian Cashman: Water bombs and the future of water        
  • Mr Keith Meade: Strategies for water security in the future               
  • Mr Kennedy Lord: Desalination, the impact to TT Water Sector   
    • Technical Tour: Seven Seas Desalination Water Treatment Plant, Point Fortin, Trinidad.
  • Ms Candice Santana: Caribbean Water Security
  • Mr David Drakes: Water efficiency, Utility Cost Optimisation
  • Mr Kevin Thompson: Update on Pollution Reports Guanapo Waterbasin
  • Dr Tagore Ramlal: Energy Efficiency Best Practices for Water Utilities  


DAY 3: Friday 16 December 2022
Chair: Dr Kiran Tota-Maharaj
  • Keynote address III: Prof Sarah Hainsworth

Session 7: Sustainable Transitions (Chair: Dr. Nimisha Tripathi)
  • Edmond Lam, Kayode Kazeem, Albert Chan, Timothy Olawumi and Irene Wong: Development of Sustainable Building Design in Hong Kong: Exploring Lean Capabilities 
  • Sara Bona, Armando Silva Afonso, Ricardo Gomes, Carla Pimentel-Rodrigues and Fernanda Rodrigues: Higher Education Institutions in the Sustainable Transition: A study at the University of Aveiro
  • Antonia Chatzirodou and Hugo Harel: An elementary review of wave energy potential at Mauritius Island 
  • Harsha Ratnaweera: The digitalisation of the water sector: Opportunities and challenges for the next decade 
  • Colin Hills, Nimisha Tripathi, Kiran Tota-Maharaj and James Hills: Potential implications for deployment of low carbon construction materials in the water industry

Session 8: Resources, Environment and Climate Change (Chair: Dr Kemi Adeyeye)
  • Jeremy Gibberd: Rainwater Harvesting Design Approaches
  • Jeremy Gibberd: School Rainwater Harvesting Design Methodologies 
  • Rajesh Ragoobir and Richard Bachoo: Cumulative Fatigue Damage of Small Bore Piping Subjected to Flow Induced Vibration
  • Dino Ratnaweera: Improving Monetary Valuation Methods Used In Cost Benefit Analysis Of Water Infrastructure Projects 

  • Social tour - The Caroni Bird Santuary


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