Jacqueline Thomas

The University of Sydney · School of Civil Engineering

Watersheds offer opportunities for place-based interventions to transform systems health via preventative versus reactive approaches to management that achieve multiple co-benefits for public and environmental health. The Watershed Interventions for Systems Health in Fiji (WISH Fiji) project embraced participatory knowledge co-production and action...

Rural communities in Fiji, like many countries in the Pacific region, use on-site sanitation systems which have been linked to faecal-oral diseases like typhoid fever. This study aimed to explore the safety of existing sanitation infrastructure and to estimate the proportion of safely managed systems (SDG 6.2 targets). This study was conducted in 2...

Pit latrines, leach-tanks and septic tanks are on-site sanitation systems used by approximately 2.7 billion people. For these systems to be safe, the faecal sludge needs to be safely contained...

It is estimated that 4.2 billion people do not have access to a safely managed sanitation systems. Sanitation systems that are not safely managed leads to exposure to human excreta, which contributes to an estimated 829,000 deaths per annum attributed to diarrhoeal diseases and helminth infections and pollution of aquatic ecosystems. This chapter p...

Climate change is expected to increase the prevalence of water-borne diseases especially in developing countries. Climate-resilient drinking water supplies are critical to protect communities from faecal contamination and thus against increasing disease risks. However, no quantitative assessment exists for the impacts of short-term climate variabil...

In Fiji, 90% of the population has access to basic sanitation; however, there are still persistent health risks from endemic faecal-oral diseases such as typhoid fever. There is a need to assess the contribution of existing sanitation facilities in the faecal pathogen transmission pathway. This study was conducted as part of a larger planetary heal...

Human and ecosystem health are inextricably linked, yet strategies to improve both are addressed in siloed ways (Wakwella et al., 2023). For instance, the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector focuses on the provision of services for safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to improve human health and wellbeing. However, although there i...

Watersheds offer opportunities for place-based interventions to transform systems health via preventative versus reactive approaches to management that achieve multiple co-benefits for public and environmental health. The Watershed Interventions for Systems Health in Fiji (WISH Fiji) project embraced participatory knowledge co-production and action...

Rural and peri-urban communities in developing countries rely on sanitation systems which are often unsafely managed. One of the major barriers to assess safely managed sanitation is a lack of data about the existing sanitation infrastructure and levels of containment safety. The aim was to review rural and peri-urban on-site sanitation studies in...

Poor rural water quality is a health challenge in Fiji. A mixed-methods study in six iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) villages was conducted to understand local perceptions of drinking water access and quality, how this changes drinking water source choices, and impacts of age and gender. Seventy-two household surveys, 30 key informant interviews (KIIs)...

Virtual and augmented (VAR) technology is in the early stages of being adopted as a teaching platform in higher education. The technology can facilitate immersive learning in environments that are not usually physically accessible to students via 3D models and interactive 360° videos. To date, adoption rates of VAR technology for teaching have not...

Climate resilient water supplies are those that provide access to drinking water that is sustained through seasons and through extreme events, and where good water quality is also sustained. While surface and groundwater quality are widely understood to vary with rainfall, there is a gap in the evidence on the impact of weather and extremes in rain...

To limit the spread of disease and reduce environmental pollution, human waste (excreta) needs to be safely contained and effectively treated. Yet 4.2 billion people, more than half of the world’s population, lack access to safe sanitation. In developing countries, each person produces, on average, six litres of toilet wastewater each day. Based o...

Globally, innovative treatment systems are needed to incentivise safe faecal sludge management practices and resource recovery. In rural Tanzania 83% of the population do not have access to basic sanitation. Communities rely on on-site sanitation (pit latrines) that are not safely managed and allow for faecal sludge to contaminate groundwater used...

In the last three years, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney has been trialling the use of immersive virtual reality (IVR) in various engineering units of study. The focus of this paper is to present preliminary results of a study that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of immersive virtual reality (IVR) content in supporting stu...

On-site sanitation includes, pit-latrine, septic tank or simple vaults. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) these types of latrines are used by 84 % of the urban households [1] and the majority of rural households. Tanzania is typical of other countries in SSA, that despite high rates of on-site sanitation usage, there is a lack of safe emptying and treatm...

Raising The Bar event in 2019 brought research from 21 academics to the public, hosted by bars across Sydney. I had the opportunity to enlighten people about sanitation at Button Bar in Surry Hills. What happens when you flush the toilet? It is not something that many of us think about, but we need to. Globally, 2.4 billion people do not have acces...

Immersive reality technology is set to revolutionise education. Through virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 360º video, students can interact with diverse environments. For example, this technology allows for engineering students to virtually walk-through building plans and construction sites simultaneously or make assessments of water...

Abstract Climate change is expected to increase waterborne diseases especially in developing countries. However, we lack understanding of how different types of water sources (both improved and unimproved) are affected by climate change, and thus, where to prioritize future investments and improvements to maximize health outcomes. This is due to li...

Virtual Reality (VR) applications are increasingly explored by industry and academia alike, in domains such as entertainment, media, health, education and training. Immersive and engaging nature of VR can be a powerful tool to aid learning and teaching [1]. This realization by academia has led to utilization of VR on different educational levels ra...

Introduction. Climate change has brought increased temperatures and variability in environmental events such as flooding and droughts. It is known that climate change increases vector-borne and infectious diseases rates (particularly diarrhoeal disease) especially in developing countries. Communities that have adequate water, sanitation and hygiene...

In developing countries, rural water sources have the highest levels of faecal contamination but are the least monitored. Affordable field-based water quality tests are needed. The presence of faecal indicator bacteria can be determined with hydrogen sulphide (H2S) detecting tests, that are inexpensive and simple to make locally. In rural Tanzania,...

Virtual reality (VR) technology has revolutionized educational opportunities by allowing people to experience and interact with diverse environments. Many environments in which professional engineers and scientists work are restricted from students due to safety and logistical constraints. Moreover, immersive technology can complement textbook base...

Abstract: Context: Within the student body of engineering undergraduates there are a number of students with passion and enthusiasm for becoming involved with Humanitarian Engineering (HE). However there are generally limited opportunities for them to contribute in practical ways to HE projects locally or overseas. Organisations such as Engineers w...

The primary goal in the provision of safe drinking water is that water be essentially free of disease-causing microorganisms. The first step towards attaining this objective is to periodically test drinking water at various stages from source to household consumption. Standard tests recommended in Standard Water and Wastewater Treatment handbook ar...

Affordable water quality tests are needed for developing countries. Further, new tools in effective behaviour change communication in water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) promotion are essential. The aim of this research was to produce the H2S water quality tests in Tanzania and develop a suitable test and sustainable business model for sale to the...

In rural Tanzania, there is a high demand for affordable and accessible fertilizer. Correctly treated faecal sludge can generate both biosolids and liquid fertilizer. These can be used for agriculture productivity and create a business for local entrepreneurs. The aim of this research was to develop a novel rice husk fired furnace to heat sterilize...

BORDA designed a DEWATS plant for Kigamboni, Dar es Salaam with a capacity of 4 m3 of sludge per day (form either pit latrines or septic tanks). The plant was built on the private land of a local entrepreneur. The economics of the collection business were monitored during the project. Further, the performance of the plant and safety of the bio-soli...

MSABI is non-profit organisation working in Kilombero valley, Tanzania and supports a local women’s pottery group to produce and sell ceramic filter pots for US$ 12.50 - 15.00. The aim of the study was to test ceramic filter pots for their removal efficacy of bacteria, viruses and protozoa, and also design and validate a novel chlorine dosing mech...

Common garden hoses may generate aerosols of inhalable size (≤ 10 µm) during use. If aerosols are inhaled containing Legionella bacteria, Legionnaires' disease or Pontiac fever may result. Noting clinical cases have been linked to garden hose use. The hose environment is ideal for the growth and interaction of Legionella and free-living amoebae (FL...

Executive summary Tanzania is not on track to meet its Millennium Development Goal of 62 per cent improved sanitation coverage by 2015. This failure is due to population growth characterised by rapid urbanisation which the Government of Tanzania is unable to service due to limited capacity and resources, and a lack of coordination between the other...

Treated drinking water in developed countries still causes disease despite meeting current regulations and compliance monitoring needs that focus on faecal contamination. Of growing concern are the increasing rates of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) infections which are in part due to inhalation of treated drinking water aerosols containing oppo...

There is an expanding body of evidence that free-living amoebae (FLA) increase both the numbers and virulence of water-based, human-pathogenic, amoeba-resisting microorganisms (ARM). Legionella spp., Mycobacterium spp., and other opportunistic human pathogens are known to be both ARM and also the etiologic agents of potentially fatal human lung inf...

Free-living amoebae (FLA) are known to facilitate the growth and virulence of a number of water-based pathogens including Legionella spp. However, there is only limited information about FLA in treated drinking water distribution systems and even less data for FLA in recycled water systems. This study provides the first description of FLA in a dual...

Free-living amoebae facilitate the growth of intracellular pathogens by providing: nutritional requirements, protection from environmental stressors, protection from chlorine disinfection and up-regulating genes involved in virulence. The aim of this research was to explore the diversity and distribution of free-living amoebae in a dual distributio...