Professor Nicholas Frederick Gray

Biography

Professor Nick Gray has worked primarily in the area of biological wastewater treatment for thirty years, working mainly on full-scale treatment systems both here and abroad. The prime focus of his work is the design and operation of reactor processes. The work has been published in over 150 scientific publications and in a number of research monographs. For example 'The Biology of Wastewater Treatment' (1989) and 'Activated Sludge: Theory and Practice' (1990) both published by Oxford University Press, contain significant amounts of previously unpublished work including a new operational control alogrithm containing 164 steps in the latter. 'Biology of Wastewater Treatment' became hugely popular in spite of its size (829 pages) and was revised in 1992. A new edition, published by Imperial College Press in London in 2004, expanded the original text to 1420 pages, 'a remarkable undertaking for a single author' Nature. Work on river pollution control has always run in parallel to the his work on wastewater treatment. In the 1980's organic pollution and sewage fungus growths in rivers was a major problem in Ireland. Fundamental work by Professor Gray led to a greater understanding of the formation and control of such microbial communities leading to collaborations with workers as far away as New Zealand. The work, carried out over a five-year period, was brought together in Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society in 1985. His work for the Standing Committee of Analysts (UK) focussed on water quality assessment leading to new standard methods and contributions to new European standards and legislation. This has also included contributions on microbial and chemical water quality testing and assessment. A third Biological Review (1995) dealt with treatability, toxicity and biodegradability test methods. Since 1994 work has focussed on unravelling the problems caused by the abandoned pyrite and copper mines at Avoca in County Wicklow, which has destroyed the River Avoca through the discharge of acid mine drainage. Through a series of papers and refereed reports the Avoca site has become and important benchmark site and is visited by other workers in this field from throughout the world. During the 1990's he produced a number of new texts including the popular book 'Drinking water quality: problems and solutions' published by John Wiley and Sons in 1994 and translated into Spanish in 1996. This book was expanded and updated in 2008 and published by Cambridge University Press. 'The Coliform index and waterborne disease: problems of microbial drinking water assessment' written with Clara Gleeson published by E. & F.N. Spon, London in 1997 proved highly controversial at the time and heralded subsequent changes in testing protocols. He is also author of the textbook 'Water Technology' (1999) co-published by Arnold and Wiley. Butterworth-Heinemann published a revised version in 2002 with an expanded second edition published in 2005 by Elsevier. This new edition will also be released in Russian in 2009. An expanded third edition is due in 2010. With a strong commitment to both research and training he started a research group in 1982 Water Technology Research. Under this umbrella training workshops were held both in Ireland and Italy. It also fronted an active consultancy service that underpinned his research throughout the 1980's and to the mid 1990's. His current interests focus on the microbial reactions in activated sludge with an increasing proportion of his time spent on looking at ways in which society will cope with a post climate change environment.