Professor John Swaffield is the head of the School of the Built Environment and leads the Drainage Research Group at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. He is chairman of the U.K. Water Regulations Advisory Committee of Defra from July 1996 to July 2003. He may be contacted by e-mail at j.a.swaffield@hw.ac.uk.
Over the past 18 months, the university has been preparing for a major reorganization that has regrouped John's division's 18 departments into six large schools and two postgraduate institutes.
One of the recurrent themes of these columns over the past couple of years has been the need to encourage the use of modern simulation and analysis tools to aid in the modernization of building drainage system design.
Is it reasonable to control research support to universities while at the same time encouraging merit-based research funding as a means of offsetting the need to maintain expensive governmental research laboratories?
The benefits of a 1.6-gallon flush volume with a reduced flush (dual flush) for toilets, reduced flow showers and improved design of clothes and dish washing machines are being assessed through recent surveys performed in the U.K.