Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The proposed research pursues four areas in the field of environmental engineering: 1. microorganism reduction (MOR), endocrine disrupting compounds(EDC) and prion destruction, 2. membrane integrity in relation to water and wastewater treatment, 3. development of a new fungal based nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) treatment system, and 4. application of artificial neural networks (ANN) and remote sensing to water quality modeling in forestry management areas. 1. MOR, EDC and prion destructionusing ozone, advanced oxidation and UV.  This research will look at methods to destroy the pathogens or toxic compounds in water,  wastewater and agricultural waste treatment. The short-term objective is to continue to develop better understanding of process fundamentals and to improve the fundamental knowledge about the application of the processes to the target reactions. The long-term objective is to reduce the risks associated with these materials in water and wastewater. 2. Membrane integrity assurance is critical to insure acceptable MOR. The short-term objective is to develop a reliable monitoring process. The long-term objective is to develop an understanding of the effects of environmental stress on performance and integrity of membranes. 3. The continued development of the fungal N and P treatment technology is very important to the wastewater treatment industry. The new technology represents a significant change in design and operation in terms of simplification as well as reduction in operational costs. The short-term objective is the continued investigation of the process fundamentals. The long-term objective is to produce a better carbon, N and P reduction process with a lower operating cost.  4. Application of ANN and remote sensing to water quality modeling has a short-term objective to develop better methods of predicting quantities and qualities of water as a result of land disturbances. The long-term objective is to produce systems that will provide a better management tool for predicting changes in water quantity and quality.