This project, funded by NIWR and USGS, evaluates whether various environmental buffers used in potable water reuse remove or introduce a variety of conventional and emerging contaminants. Wetlands, river, lake, groundwater storage and riverbank filtration are studied. The contaminants evaluated include pharmaceuticals of various environmental fate, microbial contaminants and antibiotic…
Leachate treatment
This project involves novel biological treatment of landfill leachate.
Quenching of hydrogen peroxide after UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation
Advanced oxidation is a highly effective process for treatment of organic contaminants and is frequently used for taste and odor mitigation and for treatment of water from sources impacted by human activity (indirect potable water reuse). However, it has some operational challenges on full-scale. One of the major challenges is…
Transformation products of antibiotics during chlorine disinfection
Wastewater contains trace amounts of antibiotics as well as other pharmaceuticals. During chlorine disinfection, pharmaceuticals react with chlorine and form transformation products, some of which may retain the properties of the parent molecule. We are testing the properties of the products that form with antibacterial activity assays and identify the…
Leachate treatment with the Fenton’s Process
The goal of the study was to improve the UV transmittance of landfill leachate. As wastewater treatment plants switch their disinfection process from chlorine to UV, they realize that landfill leachate interferes with the effectiveness of the disinfection process by blocking UV. The Fenton’s Process achieved moderate improvement in UV…