Date: 30 June 2026, 12-13:00
Register HERE or scan the QR code
The BetterWater4All Network+ is hosting a webinar on Microbial Ecology of Free-Living Amoebae in Water Supply Systems: Community Assembly, Driving Factors and Control Strategies. The speaker is Dr Hong Wang: see below for biography.
Free-living amoebae (FLA) are common microorganisms that can act as a ‘Trojan Horse’ by harbouring and protecting harmful bacteria, allowing them to survive disinfection and persist within drinking water systems. The webinar covers research investigating where FLA occur, from treatment plants to distribution networks and premise plumbing. It also explores how FLA interact with different bacterial species under varying environmental conditions. Key factors considered include pipe materials, disinfectants, and stress conditions. The work further evaluates control strategies and engineering approaches to limit FLA-associated risks. Improving our understanding of FLA and their bacterial interactions will help to support better treatment and network management: ultimately contributing to reduced public health risks and ensuring safer drinking water supplies.
EBNet warmly welcomes this valuable contribution to the microbial ecology of drinking water systems, and to the broader theme of the two-way interactions between microbes and their engineered environments.
Dr Hong Wang is an Associate Professor at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. She received her PhD from Virginia Tech in 2013, where she also conducted postdoctoral research before joining Tongji University.
Dr Wang’s research focuses on drinking water safety, microbial ecology, and engineered water systems, with particular emphasis on opportunistic pathogens in drinking water distribution systems. She has led several NSFC-funded projects investigating the occurrence, ecological characteristics, and control strategies of these pathogens. Her work examines how microbial communities develop, persist, and respond to engineering interventions across treatment plants, distribution systems, and premise plumbing. Her recent research focuses on the community dynamics, assembly mechanisms, and environmental drivers for FLA, as well as their interactions with bacteria under disinfection and other environmental or engineering stressors.
