Dr. Donald S. Mavinic

Professor Emeritus

Environmental Systems Engineering, Pollution Control and Waste Management

Office:

Email: dsm@civil.ubc.ca

Phone:

Biography

Dr. Mavinic is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. He received his B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Windsor (1969, 1970 and 1973) prior to assuming his faculty position at UBC in 1973. Dr. Mavinic’s research interests cover many different aspects of environmental engineering. Topics include: landfill leachate management, biological waste treatment processes, wastewater residuals treatment, nitrification and denitrification processes, phosphorus removal and recovery, diffused aeration studies, drinking water pipe corrosion studies and disinfection by-products in drinking water. Dr. Mavinic received international acclaim for leading the development of a cost-effective system to recover phosphates from municipal wastewater systems, which has subsequently been patented and adopted by cities across North America. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his achievements, including the Ernest C. Manning Innovation Award (2010), the NSERC Synergy Award (2010), and the Meritorious Achievement Award from APEGBC (2011).

Research Interests

Landfill leachate management, biological waste treatment processes, wastewater residuals treatment, nitrification and denitrification processes, phosphorus removal and recovery, diffused aeration studies, drinking water pipe corrosion studies and disinfection by-products in drinking water.

Publications

  • I. Chan, Srinivasan, A., Liao, P. H., Lo, K. V., Mavinic, D. S., Atwater, J. W., and Thompson, J. R., “The effects of microwave pretreatment of Dairy Manure on Methane Production”, Earth and Environmental Sciences, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 246-256, 2013.
  • K. A. Ashley, Kowsari, S., and Mavinic, D. S., “Analysis of Design Factors Influencing the Oxygen Transfer of a Lab-Scale Speece Cone Hypolimnetic Aerator”, ASCE Journal of the Environmental Engineering Division, 2012.
  • K. P. Fattah, Mavinic, D. S., and Koch, F., “Influence of Process Parameters on the Characteristics of Struvite Pellets”, ASCE Journal of the Environmental Engineering Division, vol. 138, no. 12, pp. 1200-1209, 2012.
  • K. A. Ashley, Cordell, D., and Mavinic, D. S., “A Brief History of Phosphorus: From the Philosophers’ Stone to the Nutrient Recovery and Reuse”, Chemosphere, vol. 84, no. 6, pp. 737-746, 2011.
  • I. W. Lo, Lo, K. V., Mavinic, D. S., Shishkowski, D., and Ramey, W., “Contributions of biofilm and suspended sludge to nitrogen transformation and nitrous oxide emission in hybrid sequencing batch system”, Journal of Environmental Sciences, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 953-960, 2010.
  • K. P. Fattah, Zhang, Y., Mavinic, D. S., and Koch, F., “Use of CO2 Stripping for Struvite Crystallization to Save Caustic Dosage: Performance at Pilotscale Operation”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 37, no. 9, pp. 1271-1275, 2010.
  • I. H. Bhuiyan, Mavinic, D. S., and Beckie, R. D., “Determination of Temperature Dependence of Electrical Conductivity and It’s Relationship with Ionic Strength of Anaerobic Digester Supernatant for Struvite Formation”, ASCE Journal of the Environmental Engineering Division, vol. 135, no. 11, pp. 1222-1226, 2009.
  • I. H. Bhuiyan, Mavinic, D. S., and Beckie, R. D., “Dissolution Kinetics of Struvite Grown in a Pilot-Scale Crystallizer”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 550-558, 2009.
  • K. I. Ashley, Mavinic, D. S., and Hall, K. J., “Effect of Orifice Diameter, Depth of Air Injection and Air Flow Rate on Oxygen Transfer in a Pilot-Scale, Full-Lift, Hypolimetic Aerator”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 137-147, 2009.
  • M. S. Rahawan and Mavinic, D. S., “Recovering Nutrients from Wastewater Treatment Plants through Strivite Crystallization: CFD Modelling of the Hydrodynamics of the UBC-MAP, Fluidized Bed Crystalizer”, Water Science and Technology, vol. 59, no. 10, pp. 1887-1892, 2009.
  • E. Tilley, Atwater, J. W., and Mavinic, D. S., “Effects of Storage on Phosphorous Recovery from Urine”, Environmental Technology, vol. 29, pp. 807-816, 2008.
  • E. Tilley, Atwater, J. W., and Mavinic, D. S., “Recovery of struvite from stored human urine”, Environmental Technology, vol. 29, pp. 797-806, 2008.
  • K. P. Fattah, Sabrina, N., Mavinic, D. S., and Koch, F., “Reducing Operating Costs For Struvite Formation With a CO2 Stripper”, Water Science and Technology, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 957-962, 2008.
  • G. Knox, Mavinic, D. S., Atwater, J. W., and McQuarrie, D., “Assessing the impact of corrosion control measures on GVRD drinking water at the tap”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 948-956, 2005.
  • D. S. Mavinic, Yonemitsu, N., Koch, F., and Britton, A., “Fluidized Bed Wastewater Treatment”, 2005.