The WaTER Center’s research is devoted to the development, improvement, and implementation of inexpensive and sustainable technologies that help to bring water and sanitation to the billions currently lacking these basic provisions.
We also study climate variability in order to assess the potential for climate extremes that threaten the availability of clean drinking water, such as droughts and flooding, in order to identify contingency plans to minimize the impact of such events. Undergraduate and graduate researchers assist in this important work in the field, laboratory, and classroom.
With partners in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Bolivia, and Pakistan, the WaTER Center is seeking holistic drinking water and sanitation solutions that are technologically-appropriate, community-sensitive, and sustainable for future generations.
Water Quality
Water quality as impacted by geological setting: arsenic mitigation and fluoride mitigation. Arsenic and fluoride are the primary inorganic contaminants affecting the safe consumption of groundwater globally. WaTER Center personnel are designing and testing technologies and developing implementation strategies to mitigate excessive arsenic and fluoride around the world.
Arsenic and fluoride are the primary inorganic contaminants affecting the safe consumption of groundwater globally. WaTER Center personnel are designing and testing technologies and developing implementation strategies to mitigate excessive arsenic and fluoride around the world.
Arsenic Mitigation
A 2008 World Health Organization (WHO) report cited arsenic (along with fluoride) as a critical drinking water issue that causes severe health issues at levels above its drinking water standard of 10 μg/L. In many areas, arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater at concentrations well above the WHO standard – as high as 3,000 μg/L. In Southeast Asia, arsenic impacts at least two, ten and thirty-five million people in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh/West Bengal, respectively, causing liver and skin cancer. In addition, arsenic consumption by children can reduce intelligence and cause neurotoxic damage.
While numerous studies have demonstrated arsenic removal using iron oxide coated sand, the arsenic removal capacity of different types of iron oxides coated on sand has not been widely studied.
Read more about the WaTER Center's research (pdf)
Fluoride Mitigation
Naturally occurring fluoride in the Earth’s crust enters groundwater by natural processes, especially in soils at the foot of high mountains and in geological deposits created by the sea. It is not known exactly how many people are affected by excess fluoride, but fluorosis is endemic in at least 25 countries across the globe (Figure 1). People affected by fluorosis are often exposed to multiple sources of fluoride, such as in food, water, air (due to gaseous industrial waste), and excessive use of toothpaste. However, drinking water is typically the most significant source.
Intermediate fluoride levels (> 1.5 mg/L) can cause dental fluorosis and higher levels can cause debilitating skeletal fluorosis and impaired intelligence / neurotoxic damage. Water treatment materials are needed that approach the efficiency of commercial materials but that are much less expensive, that ideally can be produced in country, and that are culturally acceptable and can be implemented without disrupting established village routines and structures. Materials that are currently available suffer from high cost (e.g., granular ferric oxide and activated alumina) or poor sorption capacity due to low surface area (e.g., iron coated sand).
WaTER Center researchers, with partners in Ethiopia, are exploring the effectiveness of low-cost in-country alternatives such as bone-char.
Read more about the WaTER Center's efforts at fluoride mitigation (pdf)
Passive treatment technologies, i.e., those that rely on natural biogeochemical and microbiological processes to ameliorate polluted water problems, may provide a viable treatment alternative to costly and laborious active technologies for treating contaminated water. Passive systems require less operational and maintenance labor and have lower initial costs but require larger land areas than traditional active chemical treatment systems. Thus, they have great potential in developing regions with a relative abundance of land and labor, but minimal financial capital.
Given this, the WaTER Center is currently implementing passive treatment technology in the mining contaminated waters of the Rio Juckucha watershed near Potosi, Bolivia.
Read more about passive treatment and WaTER Center efforts in Bolivia (pdf).
Water is indispensable for nearly all human activities, including drinking, bathing, and growing food. The UN Millennium Development Goals include the extension of access to safe drinking water and sanitation/hygiene, the latter of which entails the need for adequate quantities of clean water. Climate change affects freshwater quantity and quality with respect to both mean states (water availability) and variability (floods and droughts). Significant changes in either water use or the hydrological cycle (affecting water supply and floods) require adaptation, especially in those communities most vulnerable and directly dependent upon local water resources. When one source of drinking water dries up or becomes contaminated by flooding, another less desirable source of water must be utilized.
Climate change research at the WaTER Center includes robust numerical modeling that utilizes remote sensing (radar and satellite imaging), climate system models, water balance models, and historical weather data to predict droughts, flooding and regional water availability.
Learn more on the WaTER Center's climate change research (pdf).
Affordable rural water treatment systems that utilize materials produced in country and that can be implemented without disrupting established village routines and structures are needed. Market-driven solutions are, in some cases, more sustainable in the long term because the profit incentive ensures a continued supply of the socially beneficial product. Entrepreneurs who live in and understand the local culture are the most likely candidates to successfully promote and develop a business model that is locally appropriate. On an individual level, risk-tolerant citizens have sporadically risen to the opportunities presented by great need in low and middle-income markets. These are considered social entrepreneurs, as the innovative product, service, or process they wish to sell is one that helps to solve a social problem.
With partners in Ethiopia and Cambodia, the WaTER Center team is assessing and encouraging the uses of entrepreneurial activities to promote feasible technologies in each region.
A long-standing belief in the WaSH sector has been that the solution to the world’s water and sanitation crisis either involves more money, more effective technology, or better education. However, based on the WaTER Center’s experience and the findings of others, we have identified this belief as a significant misconception that has continually failed to produce sustainable WaSH solutions. Instead, we believe the long-term adoption and sustainability of a proposed WaSH solution is dependent upon the consideration of the local economy, site-specific technology and effective education practices as well as concern for the community’s religion and culture.
The WaTER Center is actively incorporating an awareness of and sensitivity to the cultural and anthropological context for each of its projects. Read more on how the WaTER Center is implementing these goals (pdf).
Amezaga, J.M., Roetting, T.S., Younger, P.L., Nairn, R.W., Noles, A-J., Oyarzún, R., and Quintanilla, J., “A Rich Vein? Mining and the Pursuit of Sustainability,” Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 45, No.1, 2011, pp. 21-26.
Brunson, L. R. and Sabatini, D. A., “Evaluation of Fish Bone Char as an Appropriate Arsenic and Fluoride Removal Technology for Emerging Regions,” Environmental Engineering Science,Vol. 26, No.12, 2009, pp. 1777-1784.
Hong, Y., “Global Precipitation Estimation and Applications,” N-B. Chang and Y. Hong, editors, Multi-Scale Hydrologic Remote Sensing: Prospects and Applications, Taylor & Francis (in press).
Hong, Y., Khan, S.I., Liu, C., and Zhang, Y., “Global Soil Moisture Measurement and Application,” N-B. Chang and Y., editors, Multi-Scale Hydrologic Remote Sensing: Prospects and Applications, Taylor & Francis (in press).
Hong, Y., Adler, R.F., Huffman, G.J., and Pierce, H., “Applications of TRMM-Based Multi-Satellite Precipitation Estimation for Global Runoff Prediction: Prototyping a Global Flood Monitoring System,” Satellite Rainfall Applications for Surface Hydrology, M. Gebremichael and F. Hossain, editors, Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York, 2010, pp. 245-265.
Khan, S. I.,Hong, Y., and Wang, J., “Satellite Remote Sensing for Flood Monitoring and Inundation Mapping: Africa Case Study,” Multi-Scale Hydrologic Remote Sensing: Prospects and Applications, N-B. Chang and Y. Hong, editors, Taylor & Francis (in press).
Khan,S.I., Adhikari, P., Hong, Y., Vergara, H., Grout, T., Adler, R. F., Policelli, F., Irwin, D., Korme, T., and Okello, L. “Observed and Simulated Hydroclimatology Using Distributed Hydrologic Model from In-situ and Multi-Satellite Remote Sensing Datasets in Lake Victoria Region in East Africa,” Hydrology Earth System Sciences Discussions, Vol. 7, 2010, pp. 4785-4816.
Khan,S.I., Adhikari,P., Hong,Y., Vergara,H., FAdler,R., Policelli,F., Irwin,D., Korme,T., and Okello,L., “Hydro-climatology of Lake Victoria Region Using Hydrologic Model and Satellite Remote Sensing Data,” Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, Vol. 15, 2011, pp. 107-117.
Khan, S. I., Hong, Y., Wang, J., Yilmaz, K.K., Gourley, J.J., Adler, R.F.,Brakenridge, G.R., Policelli, F., Habib, S., and Irwin, D., “Satellite Remote Sensing and Hydrologic Modeling for Flood Inundation Mapping in Lake Victoria Basin: Implications for Hydrologic Prediction in Ungauged Basins,” IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing, Vol. 49, No.1, 2011, pp. 85-95.
Li, L., Hong, Y., Wang, J., Adler, R.F., Policelli, F., Habib, S., Irwin, D., Korme, T., and Okello, L., “Evaluation of the Real-Time TRMM-Based Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis for an Operational Flood Prediction System in Nzoia Basin, Lake Victoria, Africa,”Journal of Natural Hazards, Vol. 50, No.1, 2009, pp. 109-123.
Liao, Z., Hong, Y., Wang, J., Fukoka, H., Sassa, K., Karnawati, D., and Fathani, F., “Prototyping an Experimental Early Warning System for Rainfall-Induced Landslides in Indonesia Using Satellite Remote Sensing and Geospatial Datasets,”ICL Landslides Journal,Vol. 7, No. 3, 2010, pp. 317-324.
Liao, Z., Hong, Y., and Kirschbaum, D.B., “Assessment of Shallow Landslides from Hurricane Mitch in Central America Using a Physically Based Model,” (Submitted to 2011 Special Journal Issue, Environmental Earth Sciences – Remote Sensing of Landslides:Hazards and Risks) (In press).
Lin, D., Huang, M., and Hong, Y., “Statistical Assessment of the Impact of Conservation Measures on Stream-Flow Responses in a Watershed of the Loess Plateau, Yellow River Basin, China,”Water Resources Management,Vol. 23, No. 10, 2009, pp. 1935-1949.
Mlilo, T. B., Brunson, L. R. and Sabatini, D. A., “Arsenic and Fluoride Removal Using Simple Materials,” Journal of Environmental Engineering, Vol. 136, No. 4, 2010, pp. 391-398.
Shen, X., Hong, Y., Qin, Q., Yuan, W., Chen, S., Zhao, S., and Grout, T. “Orientation Angle Calibration for Bare Soil Moisture Estimation Using Fully Polarimetric SAR Data, IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing, Vol. pp, No. 99, 2011, pp. 1-10.
Strosnider, W.H. and Nairn, R.W. “Effective Passive Treatment of High Strength Acid Mine Drainage and Raw Municipal Wastewater in Potosí, Bolivia using Simple Mutual Incubations and Limestone,” Journal of Geochemical Exploration, Vol. 105, No. 1-2, 2010, pp. 34-42.
Strosnider, W.H.J., Llanos Lopez, F.S., and Nairn, R.W., “Acid Mine Drainage at Cerro Rico de Potosi II: Severe Degradation of the Upper Rio Pilcomayo Watershed,” Environmental Earth Science, 2011 (in press).
Strosnider, W.H.J., Llanos Lopez, F.S., and Nairn, R.W., “Acid Mine Drainage at Cerro Rico de Potosi I: Unabated High-Strength Discharges Reflect a Five Century Legacy of Mining,” Environmental Earth Sciences, 2011 (in press).
Strosnider, W.H.J., Winfrey, B.K., and Nairn, R.W., “Alkalinity Generation in a Novel Multi-Stage High-Strength Acid Mine Drainage and Municipal Wastewater Passive Co-Treatment System,” Mine Water and Environment, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2011, 47-53.
Strosnider, W.H.J., Winfrey, B.K., and Nairn, R.W., “Novel Passive Co-Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage and Municipal Wastewater,” Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2011, 206-213.
Strosnider, W.H., Winfrey, B.K., and Nairn, R.W., “Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Nutrient Processing in a Novel Multi-Stage Raw Municipal Wastewater and Acid Mine Drainage Passive Co-Treatment System,” Water Research, Vol. 45, No. 3, 2011, pp. 1079-1086.
Wang, J., Hong, Y., Gourley, J.J., Adhikari, P., Li, L., and Su, F., “Quantitative Assessment of Climate Change and Human Impacts on Long-Term Hydrologic Response: a Case Study in a Sub-Basin of the Yellow River, China,” International Journal of Climatology, Vol. 30, Special Issue on Hydro-Climatology, 2010, 2130-2137.
Winfrey, B.K., Strosnider, W.H., and Nairn, R.W., “Highly Effective Reduction of Fecal Indicator Bacteria Counts in an Ecologically-Engineered Acid Mine Drainage and Municipal Wastewater Passive Co-Treatment System,” Ecological Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 12, 2010, pp. 1620-1626.
Yong, B., Ren, L-L., Hong, Y., Wang, J., Gourley, J.J., Jiang, S., Chen, X., and Wang, W., “Hydrologic Evaluation of Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis Standard Precipitation Products in Basins Beyond its Inclined Latitude Band: A Case Study in Laohahe River Basin, China,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 46, 2010, 1-10.
