Alma Schellart

Alma studied her MSc degree in Civil Engineering specialising in Water Management at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. After completing her PhD on uncertainty in sewer sediment transport at the University of Sheffield in the UK, where she also worked as a postdoc, before becoming a lecturer at the University of Bradford. In 2013 she moved back to the University of Sheffield, where she is currently a Senior Lecturer in Water Engineering. She has worked on many different aspects related to sewer networks, such as uncertainty in measurements and modelling, regulatory aspects, impact of combined sewer networks on urban water, urban rainfall, local real time control and sewer heat recovery.

How to measure Combined Sewer Overflows?

In several countries there is a growing public concern about combined sewer overflow (CSO) spills and their impacts on the environment and public health. At the same time, water utilities are concerned about the costs of improving deteriorating urban drainage systems, as well as the implementation of complex regulation. There are also increasing calls to make governance and investment decisions more transparent. The performance of CSO structures and the impacts of spills are, however, complex to assess; and opening up performance data can come with unintended side effects. This talk will explore different views on the performance of CSO structures, the ways in which this ‘performance’ can be measured, and the uncertainties involved in doing so.

Jose Anta

Jose is an Associate Professor at the University of A Coruña (Spain) and coordinator of the Hydraulics Laboratory at the CITEEC research centre. His work focuses on the monitoring and modelling of stormwater processes in urban drainage systems. He is especially interested in discussions around CSOs, and whenever he can, he still tries to spend time in the lab — although the paperload keeps making that harder every year.

In recent years, he and other CITEEC researchers have developed two large rainfall simulators to analyse wash‑off processes, test SUDS, and apply imaging techniques to derive urban topography, runoff velocities and water quality. He was also the coordinator of the Co‑UDlabs H2020 project, the first European network of large Research Infrastructures in Urban Drainage. Their latest — and most unexpected — scientific achievement has been keeping a green roof alive and growing entirely inside the laboratory.

What we can achieve together through a collaborative Research Infrastructures network. Experiences and challenges ahead.

This keynote reflects on why shared large‑scale Research Infrastructures (RIs) are essential for advancing urban drainage science, and how collaboration across different actors can significantly amplify impact. By opening access to large‑scale facilities, RIs allow us to generate better evidence, test ideas more quickly, and accelerate innovation pathways for industry. They also provide a neutral and trusted environment where regulators, utilities, technology developers and researchers can meet, compare approaches, and collaboratively design solutions with real impact for policy and practice.

In recent years, the Co‑UDlabs project has shown that coordinated access to this type of infrastructure is both feasible and highly valuable. At the same time, important challenges remain: harmonising methods, establishing shared protocols, and creating data structures that enable us to exchange, reuse and trust information in a reliable way. Another crucial issue is securing long‑term funding for these initiatives and integrating them into broader transnational frameworks, similar to those already existing in fields such as particle physics or astronomy.

Looking ahead, the newly launched UDRAIN Working Group offers a natural platform to build on the legacy of Co‑UDlabs. Its aim is to connect research infrastructures with researchers, practitioners and industry partners through a sustained international network, helping our community share data, tools and expertise while collectively addressing the challenges that lie ahead.