The Grand Challengers Podcast Episode #53

Making data open, making models talk and embracing uncertainty to solve 100-year old urban drainage challenges

Guest: Alma Schellart

November 11th, 2025

Episode Teaser

Introduction

“…People need to understand that this problem has been in the making for like a hundred years…”

Alma Schellart is Senior Lecturer in Water Engineering at the University of Scheffield, England. Alma aims to understand the big picture around water flows and quality throughout the whole city, using data and modelling to advise the water industry on better management of sewer infrastructure. She also adopts a conscious approach to considering how uncertainty is introduced at various points in this process and supports transparency through open data and effective communication with stakeholders and the general public in order to avoid unintended consequences and to design more robust and future-proof urban drainage infrastructure.

On today’s show, Alma and I trace her steps from growing up in the Netherlands to how she found her way to Sheffield. We discuss the use of data, models and different types of uncertainties to guide infrastructure decisisions, the values and pitfalls of making data public and an insight into solving the age-old urban drainage challenge of water quantity and quality through an integrated lens.

Biography

Dr Alma Schellart is a Senior Lecturer in Water Engineering in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace & Civil Engineering at University of Sheffield, where she contributes to the Water Engineering Group’s research on urban drainage, sewer systems and sustainable infrastructure. She earned her MSc in Civil Engineering (specialising in Water Management) at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, then completed a PhD at Sheffield investigating uncertainty in sewer sediment transport. Between 2011 and 2013 she taught at University of Bradford, where she expanded her research into urban rainfall and the energy-balance of urban water systems, before returning to Sheffield in 2013.

Alma’s work is grounded in combining fieldwork, laboratory studies and numerical modelling to address pressing challenges in urban water infrastructure under climate change and growing urban populations. Her research investigates both water quantity and quality in existing sewer systems, emphasising the uncertainty arising in modelling urban catchments and wastewater flows. For instance, she has led a large European project on quantifying uncertainty in integrated catchment studies and contributed to studies on sewer-heat recovery and combined sewer overflow management at regional scale. She continues to publish widely in the field of urban water engineering, covering topics from radar rainfall uncertainty to sediment transport in sewers to energy recovery opportunities, and plays a key mentoring role for upcoming engineers and researchers in her discipline.

Resources Related to the Episode (being updated…check back later for more)

  • Some of Alma’s recommendations for knitting:
  • The River Trust Sewage Map
  • Open CSO data for England & Wales
    • Alma’s Paper on the role of open data for CSOs: Schellart, A., Sharp, L., Bertrand-Krajewski, J.L., Rieckermann, J., Anta, J., Blumensaat, F., Clemens-Meyer, F., Dittmer, U., Douterelo, I., Gruber, G. and Jensen, H., 2025. The role of open data in regulating combined sewer overflows. Water Science & Technology, 92(3), pp.409-425. [Link]
  • The TORCH Project:

Episode Chapters

(Chapters are embedded in the episode for quick access, click this to expand and view all chapters and time stamps)
  • 0:00 Intro
  • 1.59 Guest Intro and Alma’s Knitting Hobby
  • 8:21 From an obsession with fish to urban drainage
  • 14:32 Getting to Sheffield for the PhD
  • 20:40 Setting the scene – models and urban sewers
  • 24:59 A 101 on Uncertainties
  • 30:20 Considering uncertainties in design
  • 35:03 Managing CSOs – the common urban drainage dilemma
  • 42:09 Modelling vs. Monitoring – what do we and the media trust?
  • 56:45 Building the trust and the CoUDLabs Project
  • 1:01:15 Reaching the newer generations and broader communities
  • 1:02:34 Alma’s next big project in sewers – heat recovery
  • 1:09:19 Q&A Start
  • 1:09:37 What does innovation mean to you?
  • 1:11:05 Key Moment, Event, Person
  • 1:15:01 Time Management
  • 1:18:32 Favourite childhood memory
  • 1:21:40 Greatest challenge to date
  • 1:26:20 Advice for young professionals
  • 1:27:30 What would you most like to be remembered for?
  • 1:32:02 Where can people find you?
  • 1:32:58 Final Message
  • 1:33:17 Outro

Connect with Alma Schellart

Related Episodes

Episode #05 – Peter A. Vanrolleghem
Like wastewater for chocolate – control, serendipity and digital twins
(Related Topics: integrated modelling, data)
Episode #15 – Juan Pablo RodrĂ­guez SĂĄnchez
“Restrictions and constraints breed innovation” – sewers and nature-based solutions in Colombia
(Related Topics: sewer systems, urban drainage, infrastructure, modelling)
Episode #38 – Patricia Cuervo UrĂ­a
The human side of planning and flood risk in London – the challenge of embedding
history into policy
(Related Topics: infrastructure planning, human dimensions, mental health)
Episode #45 – Lena Mutzner
“A list that keeps getting longer” – understanding pollutants of emerging concern for
healthier aquatic environments
(Related Topics: water infrastructure management, water quality, sewers)

Credits