Theo Harding
Academic And Process Engineer
Table View
Summary
I am an Academic and Process Engineer specialising in wastewater treatment engineering and modelling with 20+ years of industrial experience in wastewater treatment, the manufacturing industry and academic research. I current research is centered around industrial wastewater treatment, process selection and design, and the mathematical modelling of such processes. I largely focus I research efforts on water reuse including advanced treatment of treated effluent, resource recovery, treatment of emerging pollutants and Digital Twins Modelling
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
8
8
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Lecturer and Researcher
University of Cape Town
Cape Town
09.2020 - Current
Teaching: Water Chemistry, Wastewater Treatment, Advance Aquatic Chemistry, Clarifier Design, Conventional Water Treatment Plant Design
Research: Activated Sludge Systems, Methanogenic and Sulfidogenic Anaerobic Digestion, Settler Design, Water And Resources Recovery, Water and wastewater Process modeling and Digital Twins
Researcher (ERaSe Project)
University of Cape Town
01.2020 - 08.2020
The project aimed to improve wastewater treatment facilities in South Africa; Case studies: The project was based on three case studies from water treatment facilities in Cape Flats (Cape Town), Zeekoegat (Pretoria), and Kwamashu (Durban).
Senior Process Engineer (Wastewater Treatment)
Trusense Consulting
06.2019 - 01.2020
Upgrading of Yorkshore Water Wastewater plants from nitrification-denitrification to EBPR activated sludge configurations.
Operations Manager
University of Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch
01.2018 - 04.2019
Facility Management, Health, Safety and Environmental Risk Evaluation and mitigations of facilities and experimental planning, Technical Staff Management
Process Engineer (Wastewater Treatment)
Sasol
06.2014 - 12.2017
Process and product quality assessment, process trouble-shout (Root-Cuase Analysis), Process Development and Optimisation, Debottlenecking and preliminary design, Business Case Development, Monitor OEE and equipment and plant reliability
Researcher (ADDControl)
Ghent University
01.2010 - 12.2010
Advanced control solutions for wastewater treatment (https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/86085-taking-control-of-wastewater-treatment)
Health and Safety Manager
BIDVest
Cape Town
05.2005 - 02.2007
HSE monitoring and mitigation at paper warehouse. Coordinate ISO 14001 and 18001 and 41001 systems
Production Team Leader
PG Bison
Johannesburg
02.2004 - 04.2005
Implementing Production Schedules, Monitoring Product Quality And Advising Implement Process Control Measures, Ensuring HSE Measures Are Implemented During Within The Production Plant, Monitoring Raw Materials Levels, Manage Shift Workers On-Duty, Training New Staff,
Process Engineer
SAPPI NOVABOARD
George Plant
01.1997 - 02.2003
Process and product quality assessment, process trouble-shout (Root-Cuase Analysis), Process Development and Optimisation, Debottlenecking and preliminary design, Business Case Development, Coordinate ISO 9002, 14001, and 18001 systems
Education
PhD.Eng - Water&Wastewater
University of Cape Town
01.2020 - 12.2020
MSc.Eng - Water&Wastewater
University of Cape Town
01.2009 - 12.2009
BSc (Hons) - Environ. Eng. Tech.
University of Pretoria
01.2004 - 12.2004
BEng.Tech (Hons) - Chem. Eng.
University of South Africa
BTech - Chem.Eng.
Cape Peninsula University of Tech.
01.2000 - 12.2000
ND. - Chem Eng.
Cape Peninsula University of Tech.
01.1995 - 12.1995
OHS Act (85 of 1993) Certificate - undefined
University of Cape Town
01.2018 - 12.2018
N4 - Electrical Engineering
Northlink College
01.2006 - 12.2006
Senior Certificate - undefined
Pacaltsdorp High School
01.1992 - 12.1992
Skills
- OWAP
- RCA
- HAZOP and LOPA
- Process Improvement
- Simulation and Modelling
- Production Management
- Technical and Scientific Writing
- New Technology Development
- Production Cost Reduction
- SHE and OSHA
- OEE and Asset Management
- Operational costing and budgeting
Awardsandscholarships
- Dr. G.G. Cillie Floating Trophy, 2010, Winner: Theo Harding from: The University of Cape Town for his MSc dissertation on 'Mass balances and modeling of COD, N, P, C and metals in an AD system'
- Carnegie Scholarship/Fellowship Award, 2011/2012, PhD student's development for Prospective Academic careers in Africa
- Sasol Post Graduate Bursary, 2013, PhD studies
- Sasol Technical Group Achievement, 06/2015, Award: Recovering the failed Bio-plant and developing a protocol that reduces recovery time from 21 to 4 days.
- Water Research Commission Research Fund, 2022-2026, Biological Treatment and resource recovery of tannery effluent
- Nation Research Foundation Research Funding, 2022-2025, Optimization of Activated sludge treatment of Tannery Effluent.
Softwareusage
- Microsoft Office
- MATLAB
- DHI WEST
- Open Source Modelica
- AFT Fathom
Researchstatement
My research focuses on advancing the treatment of domestic wastewater, industrial effluents, and mine water drainage through the application and optimization of various treatment processes. To date, the key methodologies included technologies like Activated Sludge (various configurations), Anaerobic Digestion, Biological Sulfate Reduction, clarifier and Membrane Separation, and chemical treatment methods. My background spans several critical areas: Phosphorus Removal and Recovery, Biological Sulfate Reduction and Elemental Sulfur Recovery, Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment, Inhibition Modeling and Reactor Selection. My overarching goal is to contribute to the advancement of sustainable wastewater treatment practices by integrating cutting-edge research with practical applications, thereby addressing environmental challenges and supporting the transition towards a circular economy.
Researchprojectsandfunding
- 2022-2024, NRF non-rated researcher: Evaluation of the biodegradability of Eco-Friendly Process Tannery effluent in Activated Sludge Systems.
- 2022-2025, WRC C2022/2023-00923: Developing a mathematical model for the anaerobic digestion treatment of bovine tannery effluent with elemental Sulphur resource recovery.
- 2020-2022, ERASE: Evaluation of Resource recovery Alternatives in South African water treatment systems.
- 2016-2020, Getting the most out of wastewater treatment plants and anaerobic digesters with biodegradability, Thrust 3: Sustainable municipal wastewater management and sanitation.
Supervisionandcosupervision
2 MSc students at the University of Cape Town, 1 PhD and 6 Masters' students at the University of Cape Town
Researchcollaborationwithindustry
- City of Tshwane (DANIDA Erase)
- City of Cape Town (DANIDA Erase)
- Wastewater Plant support to Eden Municipality (Currently Developing MOU)
- IWA WRRMod2022+ Conference Co-organiser (Stellenbosch, 01/18/23 - 01/21/23)
Teachingphilosophy
My teaching philosophy is centered on the integration of industry knowledge, ongoing research learnings and classroom teaching experiences with the aim of fostering an open and engaging learning environment for students. This philosophy is strongly influenced by my expertise and knowledge on the subject matter within water and wastewater treatment and complex plant operational space. This teaching philosophy can be further categorized as follows: Practical application, Visualization and understanding, Engaging learning environment, Interactive teaching, No judgment.
Id
7406255102081
Passport
451651950
Driverslicense
EB
Ethnicity
Coloured
Professionalregistrationsandassociationmemberships
- Engineering Council of SA, Candidate PET (201580040)
- International Water Association, AM-IWA (Mem. no. 01029363)
- Water Institute of South Africa, MWISA (Mem.no. 24887)
- Institute of Chemical Engineers, AMIChemE (Mem. no. 99963486)
- American Water Works Association, MAWWA (Mem. No. 03417043)
- SA Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, AMSaiosh (Mem.54949538)
Personal Information
Marital Status: Single
Publications
Towards the development of ozonation and biological activated carbon hybrid model for the tertiary wastewater system, Shalongo T. Angula, John Okedi, Theo Harding, Giacomo Bellandi, David S. Ikumi, 2024, Under Review for Publication, Hydrogen Sulfide Product Inhibition Model describing Anaerobic Digestion Under Dynamic Feed Operating Conditions, Theo Harding, David Ikumi, 2024, Under Review for Publication, Growing an Enhanced Culture of Polyphosphate Accumulating Organisms (PAOs) from domestic wastewater using an enhanced biological Phosphorus Removal Activated Sludge System, Njabulo Thela, Theo Harding, David Ikumi, Moses Basitere, 2023, Currently Under Review, Plant-wide assessment of alternative activated sludge configurations for biological nutrient removal under uncertain influent characteristics, E Ramin, X Flores-Alsina, C Gaszynski, T Harding, D Ikumi, C Brouckaert, B Brouckaert, D Modiri, R Al, G Sina, KV. Gernaeya, 2022, Science of The Total Environment, 822, 153678, Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment Using an Integrated Biological and Electro-coagulation Treatment System: Process Optimisation Using Response Surface Methodology, PV Ngobeni, L Gutu, M Basitere, T Harding, D Ikumi, 2022, Sustainability, 14, 15, 9561, Multi-Integrated Systems for Treatment of Abattoir Wastewater: A Review, Gutu, L, Basitere, M, Harding, T, Ikumi, D, Njoya, M., Gaszynski, C., 2021, MDPI: Journal of Water, 13, 18, 2464, Assessment of sludge management strategies in wastewater treatment systems using a plant-wide approach, Flores-Alsina X., Ramina E., Ikumi DS, Harding T, Batstone D, Brouckaert C, Sotemann S, Gernaeya KV, 2021, Water Research, 190, 1, A prototype dynamic model for the co-treatment of a high-strength simple-organic industrial effluent and coal-mine drainage, Harding, T, Ikumi, D.S., Ekama, G.A., 2020, PhD Thesis, University of Cape Town, Kinetics of biological and chemical processes in anoxic-aerobic digestion of phosphorus-rich waste activated sludge, Ikumi, DS, Harding, T., 2020, Journal of Water Research, 170, Mass balances modelling over wastewater treatment plants III, Ikumi, DS, Harding, TH, Vogts, M, Lakay, MT, Mafungwa, HZ, Brouckaert, CJ, Ekama, GA, 2015, Report, Water Research Commission of South Africa, WRC Report No. 1822/1/14, Biodegradability of wastewater and activated sludge organics in anaerobic digestion, Ikumi, DS, Harding, TH, Ekama, GA, 2014, Water Research, 56, 267-276, Detailed dynamic pumping energy models for optimization and control of wastewater applications, De Keyser, Webbey, Amerlinck, Youri, Urchegui, G, Harding, Theodor, Maere, Thomas, Nopens, Ingmar, 2014, Journal of water and climate change, 5, 299-314, Plant-wide integrated biological, chemical and physical processes modelling of wastewater treatment plants in 3 phases (aqueous-gas-solid), Ikumi, DS, Harding, TH, Brouckaert, CJ, Ekama, GA, 2013, Report, University of Cape Town, A steady-state stoichiometric model describing the anaerobic digestion of biological excess phosphorus removal waste-activated sludge, Harding, TH, Ekama, GA, 2009, Report, University of Cape Town, Hydrogen Sulphide Product Inhibition Modelling Within an Anaerobic Reactor Under Dynamic Operating Conditions, Harding TH, Ikumi DS, Ekama GA, 2023, 8th IWA-WRRMod22+ Conference, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, 01/18/23 - 01/21/23, A mass balance-based model of an integrated system fed high strength Fischer-Tropsch Reaction Water and acid mine drainage, Harding, T., Ekama. G.A., Riedel, KH, 2012, WISA Conference 2012, 05/06/12 - 05/08/12, Cape Town, Incorporating phosphorus into plant-wide wastewater treatment plant modelling-anaerobic digestion, Harding, TH, Ikumi, DS, Ekama, GA, 2011, 8th IWA Watermatex conference, 20-22, Extending plant-wide wastewater treatment plant models by including anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge from a biological excess phosphorus removal system, Harding, TH, Ikumi, DS, Lakay, MT, Mafungwa, H, Ekama, GA, 2008, WISA Conference, ISA 2008 Conference
Timeline
Lecturer and Researcher
University of Cape Town
09.2020 - Current
Researcher (ERaSe Project)
University of Cape Town
01.2020 - 08.2020
PhD.Eng - Water&Wastewater
University of Cape Town
01.2020 - 12.2020
Senior Process Engineer (Wastewater Treatment)
Trusense Consulting
06.2019 - 01.2020
Operations Manager
University of Stellenbosch
01.2018 - 04.2019
OHS Act (85 of 1993) Certificate - undefined
University of Cape Town
01.2018 - 12.2018
Process Engineer (Wastewater Treatment)
Sasol
06.2014 - 12.2017
Researcher (ADDControl)
Ghent University
01.2010 - 12.2010
MSc.Eng - Water&Wastewater
University of Cape Town
01.2009 - 12.2009
N4 - Electrical Engineering
Northlink College
01.2006 - 12.2006
Health and Safety Manager
BIDVest
05.2005 - 02.2007
Production Team Leader
PG Bison
02.2004 - 04.2005
BSc (Hons) - Environ. Eng. Tech.
University of Pretoria
01.2004 - 12.2004
BTech - Chem.Eng.
Cape Peninsula University of Tech.
01.2000 - 12.2000
Process Engineer
SAPPI NOVABOARD
01.1997 - 02.2003
ND. - Chem Eng.
Cape Peninsula University of Tech.
01.1995 - 12.1995
Senior Certificate - undefined
Pacaltsdorp High School
01.1992 - 12.1992
BEng.Tech (Hons) - Chem. Eng.
University of South Africa
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