The Ardern-Lockett Award recognizes outstanding contributions to research and practice in Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering. The activated sludge process was invented in 1913-1914 by Mr. Edward Ardern, a chemist at the Manchester-Davyhulme wastewater treatment plant, and his co-worker, Mr. William Lockett. Ardern and Lockett understood for the first time the active role of floc formation during the aeration of wastewater, known now as activated sludge. They introduced a recycling of this suspension formed during the aeration period and worked vigorously to scale up the observation. Ardern and Lockett worked under the guidance of Gilbert John Fowler. The group had strong links to the research centre at Lawrence Experiment Station in Massachusetts. Though they studied isolates from the sludge, they found the indigenous bacteria to be more effective. The award is named after Ardern and Lockett in recognition of the MEWE Specialist Group’s strong link to the Activated Sludge process, and investigations into the microbial population dynamics of these systems but also in recognition of their exemplary ability to link discovery to application.
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