Water and Environmental Engineering

Limited water resources and increasing vulnerability are among the key challenges facing humanity. 

These pressures stem especially from the utilisation of natural resources and the degradation and contamination of the environment. In most areas, water problems are closely connected to political and societal systems. For one, unstable conditions and the short-term planning of societies cannot support the sustainability of water resources. Meanwhile, conflicts of interest related to water sow discord even between nations. 

The aims and scope of the research group are to:

• study global water challenges with a problem-solving approach, taking into account the multifaceted relationships between water and development
• offer high-quality teaching related to the research topics
• provide expert services related water issues and sustainable technologies

In this area, the main topics of our work are:

• Water for food
• Climate change and water
• Integrated approaches to water management: IWRM, water-energy-food nexus
• Transboundary rivers; role of power and politics in water management
• Water innovations & water business

Head of the group: Professor Olli Varis. 

Read more from the WDRG home page and Engineering Education Research Group home page. 

As water is both a vital resource as well as a resource that is exposed to environmental effects, human society is inextricably connected to and reliant on nature and its waters.

The aims and scope of the research group are to:

• promote sustainable use of water and advance the assessment and prediction of the state of the water environment
• measure and quantify changes in water and the water environment caused by anthropogenic activities in both empirical and laboratory settings
• develop computational hydrology and hydraulics applications, ecohydraulics, nature-based solutions and basin-scale process examination – the watershed basin is our key unit, enabling the study of the effects of land cover and sub-processes related to precipitation, evapotranspiration, water storage and runoff development 

In this area, the main topics of our work are:

• ecohydraulics and nature-based solutions
• water in cities
• water in agricultural areas
• water in forests

Head of the group: Professor Harri Koivusalo. Learn more about our research group

Water and wastewater engineering research covers drinking water production, wastewater treatment and the piped networks needed for water supply and sewer collection. Providing water services is critical for society: they need to be functional on every day and under every circumstance.

The aims and scope of the group are to:

• improve the performance of drinking water and wastewater treatment processes in terms of resource recovery, automation and control, as well as the removal efficiency of conventional and emerging pollutants
• support the optimal management of drinking water distribution and sewer collection systems using existing operational and geospatial information – our research is supported by an analytical water laboratory and a variety of on-site measurement and treatment devices
• support water utilities by improving cost efficiency, reducing environmental loads and producing safer drinking water – these solutions often have business potential for the companies involved

In this area, the main topics of our work are

• preventive health care: clean water production and sanitation
• environmental protection: wastewater treatment processes
• energy and resource efficiency: water supply and sewer systems; nutrient and metal recovery from wastewater; sludge utilisation

Head of the group: Assistant professor Anna Mikola. Learn more about our research group.

Aarnio, H. 2025. Team teaching in multidisciplinary technology education: Instructional process in design-based technology projects. Link

Feng, F. 2025. Bridging disciplines for transformative learning: Educators’ and students’ journeys in interdisciplinary higher education. Link

Piipponen, J. 2025. Sustainability and productivity in global livestock grazing: Current challenges and future pathways. Link

Bansfield, D. 2025. Pioneering circular pathways: Improved recycling of nutrients in industrial wastewater into valueadded products. Link

Jylhä-Ollila, M. 2025. The long-term development of water quality in managed aquifer recharge - Organic matter removal and related redox reactions. Link

Virkki, V. 2024. Freshwater change in the Earth system - A qualitative-quantitative outlook and implications for planetary boundaries. Link

Ahopelto, L. 2024. Drought in Water Abundant Finland - Data and Tools for Drought Management. Link

Karvinen, M. 2024. Supporting agency for sustainability - Exploring the contributions of universities and workplaces to the sustainability competencies and agency of engineering graduates. Link

Juvakoski, A. 2024. Out of the WASH box – Towards a wider contextualization of the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector. Link

Lehtoranta, V. 2023. Non-market benefits of improved freshwater bodies: insights for regional water policy. Link

Tomin, O. 2023. Tailoring the difference - Tailored biochars for sustainable water treatment: Customizing adsorbents for specific applications. Link

Kaljunen, J. 2023. Waste nutrients harvested: Design and evaluation of nitrogen and phosphorus recovery processes utilizing membrane contactor and adsorption techniques. Link

Niva, V. 2022. The interplay of environmental and social drivers of migration - A global synthesis. Link

Box, W. 2022. The impact of natural floodplain vegetation on flow resistance and fine sediment transport. Link

Kinnunen, M. 2022. Resilience perspectives in global food systems - Exploring variability, localness and diversity. Link

Kallio, M. 2022. Towards more useful water information - methods for fine-scale spatial estimation. Link

Fallon, A. 2022. Keep it Complex - Critical perspectives on water governance for dynamic social–hydrological systems. Link

Heino, M. 2022. Susceptibility of global crop production to climate variability and change. Link

Rantanen, P. 2020. Nitrification in drinking water distribution and wastewater treatment - Reasons, consequences and the effects of the organic matter. Link

Lehikoinen, E. 2020.Building a more resilient Finnish food system - From import dependence towards domestic natural resource use. Link

Laakso, T. 2020. Data-driven network asset management - Focus on sewer systems. Link

Munia, H. 2020. Global analyses of drivers of water scarcity indicators in transboundary river basins. Link

Roiha, P. 2019. Advancements of operational oceanography in the Baltic Sea. Link

Salo, H. 2019. Assessing the effects of subsurface drainage on hydrology and nitrogen transport in Nordic fields. Link

Jalava, M. 2019. The water we eat - Methods for estimating water use of diets in changing food systems. Link

Välitalo, P. 2019. Toxicity and emerging contaminants – Effect-based assessment of complex environmental samples. Link

Haapala, J. 2018. Governing water for local development - Solutions to implementation challenges in remote, rural Nepal. Link

Kruglova, A. 2018. Biological removal of emerging micropollutants in nitrifying activated sludge at low temperatures. Link

Talvitie, J. 2018. Wastewater treatment plants as pathways of microlitter to the aquatic environment. Link

Yazdani, R M. 2018. Engineered adsorptive materials for water remediation - Development, characterization, and application. Link

Haahti, K. 2018. Modelling hydrology and sediment transport in a drained peatland forest - Focus on sediment load generation and control after ditch network maintenance. Link

Sahimaa, O. 2017. Recycling potential of municipal solid waste in Finland. Link

Niemi, T. 2017. Improved Precipitation Information for Hydrological Problem Solving - Focus on Open Data and Simulation. Link

Turunen, M. 2017. Assessing water and sediment balances in clayey agricultural fields in high-latitude conditions. Link

Kattelus, M. 2017. Framing wicked water problems: Cases from large Asian transboundary river basins. Link

Haimi, H. 2016. Data-derived soft sensors in biological wastewater treatment - With application of multivariate statistical methods. Link

Krebs, G. 2016. Spatial Resolution and Parameterization of an Urban Hydrological Model : Requirements for the Evaluation of Low Impact Development Strategies at the City Scale. Link

Porkka, M. 2016. Securing global food supplies with limited resources - Lessons from the past. Link

Sojamo, S. 2016. Water-using corporations as agents of water security, management and governance - Exploring cases from stewardship initiatives in South Africa to global networks of power. Link

Stenberg, L. 2016. Erosion and sediment transport mechanisms in drained peatland forest catchments after ditch network maintenance. Link

Västilä, K. 2016. Flow-plant-sediment interactions: Vegetative resistance modeling and cohesive sediment processes. Link

Jalonen, J. 2015. Hydraulics of vegetated flows: estimating riparian plant drag with a view on laser scanning applications. Link

Salmivaara, A. 2015. Spatial Vulnerability Assessments for Water Resources Management - Cases from major Asian river basins with a focus on spatial unit of analysis and the use of big and open data. Link

Räsänen, T. 2014. Hydrological changes in the Mekong River Basin - The effects of climate variability and hydropower development. Link

Mikola, A. 2013. The effect of flow equalization and low-rate prefermentation on the activated sludge process and biological nutrient removal. Link

Sillanpää, N. 2013. Effects of suburban development on runoff generation and water quality. Link

Tuutijärvi, T. 2013. Arsenate removal from water by adsorption with magnetic nanoparticles (γ-Fe2O3). Link

Veijalainen, N. 2012. Estimation of climate change impacts on hydrology and floods in Finland. Link

Laine-Kaulio, H. 2011. Development and Analysis of a Dual-Permeability Model for Subsurface Stormflow and Solute Transport in a Forested Hillslope. Link

Stucki, V. 2011. In Search of Integration. Analyzing the Gap Between Theory and Practice of Integrated Water Resources Management with Case Studies from West Africa and International Policy Processes. Link

Warsta, L. 2011. Modelling Water Flow and Soil Erosion in Clayey, Subsurface Drained Agricultural Fields. Link

Keskinen, M. 2010. Bringing back the common sense? Integrated approaches in water management: Lessons learnt from the Mekong. Link

Heinonen, U. K. 2009. Can the poor enhance poverty reduction? : rural and urban perspectives on water resources, poverty & participatory development in the Tonle Sap Region and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Link

Koskela, J. 2009. Studies on long-term inflow forecasting. Link

Lahti, M. 2009. Two-dimensional aquatic habitat modelling. Link

Rahaman, M M. 2009. Integrated Water Resources Management: Constraints and Opportunities with a Focus on the Ganges and the Brahmaputra River Basins. Link

Kummu M. 2008 Spatio-temporal scales of hydrological impact assessment in large river basins: the Mekong case. Helsinki University of Technology. Water & Development Publications. TKK-WD-04. Link

Malve, O. 2007. Water quality prediction for river basin management. Link

Liikanen, Riina. 2006. Nanofiltration as a refining phase in surface water treatment. Link

Rankinen, K. 2006. Analysis of Inorganic Nitrogen Leaching in a Boreal River Basin in Northern Finland. Link

Jauhiainen, M. 2004. Relationships of particle size distribution curve, soil water retention curve and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and their implications on water balance of forested and agricultural hillslopes  Link

Helmiö, T. 2004. Effects of cross-sectional geometry, vegetation and ice on flow resistance and conveyance of natural rivers  Link

Järvelä, J. 2004. Flow resistance in environmental channels: Focus on vegetation  Link

Kokkonen, T. 2003. Rainfall-runoff modelling - comparison of modelling strategies with a focus on ungauged predictions and model integration. Water Resources Publications. Helsinki University of Technology. Espoo. TKK-VTR-9.  Link

Koivusalo, H. 2002. Process-oriented investigation of snow accumulation, snowmelt and runoff generation in forested sites in Finland. Water Resources Publications. Helsinki University of Technology. Espoo. TKK-VTR-6.  Link

Tamm, T. 2002. Effect of meteorological conditions and water management on hydrological processes in agricultural fields: Parameterization and modeling of Estonian case studies. Helsinki University of Technology Water Resources Publications. TKK-VTR-5, 194 p. Link

Vahala, R. 2002. Two step granular activated carbon filtration in drinking water treatment. Link

Tanskanen, J-H. 2000. An approach for evaluating the effects of source separation on municipal solid waste management.

Renko, E. 2000. Modelling hindered batch settling with applications to avtivated sludge and calcium carbonate slurry.

Jolma, A. 1999. Development of river basin management decision support systems: two case studies. Helsinki University of Technology, Water Resources Laboratory. Espoo. TKK-VTR-4, 194 p.

Silander J. 1999. Floating breakwater and environment. Helsinki University of Technology, Teknillisen korkeakoulun vesitalouden ja vesirakennuksen julkaisuja , ISSN 1456-2596 ; 3

Puupponen M. 1998 Structural development of the Finnish national hydrometric monitoring network. Finnish Environment Institute. Monographs of the boreal environment research , ISSN 1239-1875 ; 12.

Niemi, A. 1994. Modeling flow in fractured medium - Uncertainty analysis with stochastic continuum approach. VTT Publications. VTT. Yhdyskuntatekniikka. Espoo. No. 184, 188 + 12 p.

Kettunen, J. 1993. Model-oriented data analysis with applications to lake and soil water simulation. TKK. Vesitalouden laboratorio. Espoo. No. 1993/1, 268 p.

Varis, O. 1991. Computational modeling of the environment with applications to lake eutrophication. TKK. Vesitalouden laboratorio. Espoo. No. 1991:1, 293 p.

Al-Soufi, R. 1989. A mathematical model for the watershed hydrologic system. Report. TKK. Rakennus- ja maanmittaustekniikan osasto. Espoo. No. 1989/1, 136 p.

Ettala, M. 1988. Short- tree plantations and hydrological aspects in landfill management. Report. TKK. Rakennus- ja maanmittaustekniikan osasto. Espoo. No. 1988/2, 13 p.

Karvonen, T. 1988. A model for predicting the effect of drainage on soil moisture, soil temperature and crop yield. TKK. Vesitalouden ja vesirakennuksen laboratorio. Espoo. No. 1988/1, 215 p.

All our master theses are archived at Aalto.doc