Kitty Foxon is a senior lecturer in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a researcher in the Pollution Research Group. She holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering (Natal) and a PhD (Chemical Engineering) from UKZN. She has been involved in a range of wastewater and sanitation projects through the Water Research Commission and specialises in aerobic and anaerobic biological wastewater treatment processes, and low cost sanitation. She was awarded a PhD for her work on anaerobic digestion of domestic wastewater in an anaerobic baffled reactor. She is part of a team working on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project Reinvent the Toilet Challenge.

Current Research

She is currently involved in research in three broad categories: (i) anaerobic digestion of industrial effluents; (ii) anaerobic digestion of municipal sludge and (iii) biological processes in on-site sanitation systems. She is currently grantholder for the following projects:

• Sasol University Collaboration Programme grantholder : Biological wastewater treatment of Sasol effluent:

• NRF Thuthuka grantholder: Characterisation of anaerobic liquor

• NRF THRIP grantholder: Anaerobic Digestion of Sasol effluents

She is also part of the research team for the following WRC projects

• WRC project researcher on the following projects:

• WRC project K5/1745 Understanding the sludge accumulation in VIPs, UDs and other on-site sanitation systems, and strategies to manage desludging in the future when pits are full

• WRC project K5/1829 The potential of deep row entrenchment of pt latrine and wastewater treatment works sludge for forestry and land rehabilitation purposes

• WRC K5/2002 Evaluation of the DEWATS process for decentralized wastewater treatment (March 2010 – February 2013)

• WRC K5/2001 Co-digestion of sewage sludge and industrial concentrates (March 2010 – February 2013)

• WRC K5/2125 Integration of Aquatic Chemistry with bio-process models

She is part of a team working on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project Reinvent the Toilet Challenge and Mechanical Properties of Faecal sludge.

Teaching

Dr Foxon is a senior lecturer in the discipline of Chemical Engineering at UKZN and a specialist teacher in the reactor technology, process modelling and bioprocess engineering.

She is married with 4 children.