Water Technology: What we do
The current research activities of the Water Technology Group are primarily in water and wastewater treatment engineering and potable and non-potable water reuse. In particular, we are currently focusing on technologies leading to indirect potable reuse (soil-aquifer treatment vs. microfiltration/reverse osmosis); beneficial reuse of produced water during natural gas exploration; desalination and concentrate volume minimization; state-of-the-art characterization of natural and effluent organic matter; fate and transport of emerging contaminants (such as endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceutical residues and household chemicals) in natural and engineered systems as well as the rejection mechanisms of organic micropollutants in high-pressure membranes. Our research is comprised of fundmental studies at the bench-scale, controlled laboratory-scale experiments, as well as studies at pilot-scale facilities. In order to verify research findings, we work very closely with water and wastewater utilities to verify research findings at full-scale installations at field sites across the United States.
Our laboratory consitsts of equipment for membrane related work (laboratory-scale MF; 1-stage NF/RO; 2-stage NF/RO; electrodialysis skid, three Osmonics SEPA II units, diffusion cells, dead-end stirr cell) and soil-column systems simulating riverbank filtration and artifical recharge and recovery. The group has access to a fully SCADA controlled state-of-the-art 12-gpm drinking water treatment pilot plant facility simulating conventional surface water treatment (coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, conventional and high-rate filtration, GAC filtration). The Water Tedhnology Group also operates a mobile, fully SCADA-controlled 20-gpm nanofiltration/ reverse osmosis pilot skid.
Our laboratory consist of state-of-the-art analytical equipment (TOC Sievers 800; Beckman UV/Vis; Dionex ion chromatography; HACH DR2500; HPLC-ELISA; HPLC-UV/Fluorescence; HPLC/Dioden Array; GC/MS HP 5971; GC/MS HP 5973; 96 well plate reader; three work stations), organic fractionation equipment (20-L rotary evaporator, XAD-8 resin columns, ultrafiltration and dialysis),
The Group at Work...
(...but you will need a fast connection, this file is 10 MB)