Improving water quality for people and the environment
Delivering environmental solutions
Ana Castro-Castellón founded AquaCyan® Consultants Ltd. to enhance water quality for both people and the environment, safeguard and remediate water-related ecosystems, and deliver innovative, environmentally sustainable solutions. Her academic journey began in Biomedical Sciences at the Pontifical Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia, culminating in a DPhil in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of Oxford.
With a rich international academic and professional background, Ana has earned a degree in Biological Sciences with a specialization in Zoology and an MSc in Microbiology and Parasitology from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, after relocating from South America to Europe. She then moved to the UK, where she completed an MSc by Research in Ecology and Ecosystems Change from the University of Bristol, followed by her DPhil.
Dr. Castro-Castellón's expertise in environmental and water-related topics is supported by her extensive academic research and experience in the water industry with companies such as Wessex Water, Thames Water, and Welsh Water. These roles have centered on water quality, regulation, and environmental remediation. Ana has led, managed, and collaborated on numerous projects covering various topics, including microbiology, limnology, biogeochemistry, hydrobiology, freshwater ecology, and water treatment processes. Specific projects have addressed issues such as water contamination, the environmental impact of ostrich farms, cyanobacteria and algal bloom management in reservoirs and lakes, pollution pathways, constructed wetlands, biofilters, and bioreactors for water treatment.
Ana's interdisciplinary background as a chemist/environmental engineer and aquatic ecologist encompasses fieldwork and laboratory research. Her professional experience includes auditing, optimizing asset performance, and operating generic treatment processes like coagulation, filtration, and disinfection, as well as specific processes like nitrate and iron removal. She has provided technical advice on monitoring systems for raw, processed, and treated water, as well as data analysis and risk assessments. Dr. Castro-Castellón has overseen the limnology of over ten surface reservoirs, monitored the quality performance of fourteen potable water treatment works with production outputs ranging from 2 to 180 Ml/d, and managed the monitoring of eighty-one drinking water storage reservoirs. Additionally, she has handled emergency events for the Thames Valley region and worked as Senior Scientist for I-Phyc, an algal biotech company.
Ana is a Research Associate for QUANTUM freshwaters at the University of Bristol. She has also worked as a Researcher for Cardiff University on the METAL_SoLVER project; served as a Visiting Research Fellow at Cardiff and Bath Spa Universities, and collaborates with the project RESPiRES. Ana is certified in diatoms, microalgae and cyanobacteria identification and is actively involved in professional organizations as the Chair of the Awards Subcommittee for the Water Science Forum Interest Groups of the Royal Society of Chemistry, College Reviewer for British Ecological Society, and reviewer for a number of scientific peer-reviewed journals.
Publications collects Ana's selected published work and other communication activities.