Research Focus
The Aquatic Chemistry Laboratory is focused on chemical reactions that affect the fate and transport of heavy metals, radionuclides, and other inorganic constituents in natural and engineering aquatic systems. Major research themes in the group are (1) drinking water treatment and supply, (2) environmental geochemistry of soil and groundwater, and (3) the environmental impacts of energy byproducts. A summer undergraduate research project is available on the demonstration of an approach for monitoring lead in drinking water using point-of-use filters. The main sources of lead in residential drinking water are lead service lines and other lead-containing plumbing products such as solders and brass materials. Point-of-use (POU) filters are widely used as reliable water treatment devices. The activated carbon media inside POU filters is effective at retaining lead. Previous studies by our group have demonstrated that acid extraction is able to recover almost all accumulated lead from POU filters. Along with information on the cumulative volume of water processed by a filter, volume-averaged lead concentrations can then be determined. However, the performance of this monitoring approach under more realistic water use patterns for which lead concentrations are temporally variable has not been evaluated. In this project, a student will work on a team to conduct experiments to assess the extent of lead removal by POU filters and the extractability of retained lead. The student will prepare synthetic waters spiked with lead at different levels and perform subsequent acid extraction.
Skills, Techniques, Methods
Students conducting research in the Aquatic Chemistry Laboratory will:
- design and perform bench-scale experiments
- conduct quantitative analysis of trace elements and measure other water chemistry parameters
- process and interpret data generated in experiments
- communicate the research process results in both oral and written formats
Research Conditions
The research is laboratory-based and will involve experiments at the laboratory bench and associated office- and library-based work on data analysis, review of the literature, and preparing written communications. Participating students will complete both general and laboratory-specific safety training. Anticipated allocations of time will be about 50% in the laboratory and 50% on office- and library-based tasks with much of that time working at a computer.
Team Structure and Opportunities
Our research team includes doctoral students and undergraduate students. Undergraduate students work closely with one of doctoral student Zehua Wang as their daily point-of-contact. Undergraduate students meet at least weekly with Daniel Giammar. The full Aquatic Chemistry Laboratory group has a weekly research group meeting, and the participating undergraduate students will give a presentation in this meeting near the end of their research experience.
Requirements
Must have taken college chemistry. Will ideally have had a course that includes mass balance analysis. Preference for environmental engineering and chemical engineering students.
