Research & Economic Development
Water Security & Sustainability
Innovative methods are being developed for the treatment of wastewater and to ensure
that water quality is maintained.
The overarching objective of this thrust area is to enable fundamental and applied
research on topics aimed toward conserving the quantity and enhancing the quality
of our water resources.
This is being done through the assessment and development of innovative water and
wastewater treatment technologies; understanding the impact of stormwater runoff on
watershed health; the use of an integrated watershed management approach; and groundwater
quality assessment.
Within wastewater treatment systems, the microorganisms are breaking down the pollutants into non-toxic components. Most systems do this aerobically by adding oxygen to the wastewater stream and generating carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere. But, if one can run the system anaerobically (without oxygen), certain microorganisms generate methane that can be captured and burned as a fuel to generate enough electrical power to make the treatment plant self-powered. That approach has been used by large treatment systems but has not been applied widely to smaller systems because they need high efficiency to work well. The Water Center's work is studying how to improve efficiency via anaerobic co-digestion, which is a process by which plant operators can add high-strength organic substrates such as food waste to augment biogas production.