Our research and teaching activities are supported by state-of-the-art analytical facilities in the Environmental Engineering Laboratories and the Keck Water Quality Laboratory. We have recently completed a major upgrade of these facilities to provide the capability to analyze samples from a wide variety of industrial processes, treatment processes, and polluted environments.

Pollutant Fate and Transport

Research areas are conservative, semi-Lagrangian models of fate and transport in fluvial system, using scalable parallel algorithms for computation, probabilistic analysis of pollutant spills, influence of transient storage zones on fluvial fate and transport predictions, assessment of pathogen loading and transport in water supplies and treatment systems, fate of hydrophobic organics in sediment, environmental chemistry of PAHs. Water Treatment (Environmental) Researchers investigate the influence of natural organic matter properties and water chemistry on the formation of disinfection byproducts, understanding fouling mechanisms in the use of membrane processes in water treatment, membrane modifications for water treatment, adsorption processes and hybrid processes for removal of DBP precursors.

Back to Top

Waste Treatment

Studies focus on aerobic and anaerobic biological treatment reactors for municipal and industrial wastes; high strength anaerobic waste treatment in fluidized bed bioreactors with energy recovery, nutrient removal systems, hazardous waste treatment reactors, biofilters.

Back to Top

Site Remediation and Bioremediation

Research areas include combined advanced oxidation and biological treatment for sediment and soil slurry systems, in-situ degradation of chlorinated organics in groundwater, and solid phase treatment reactors for soils, slurries, and municipal solid wastes.

Back to Top

Environmental Systems

Under investigation are genetic algorithms for model calibration and optimization in environmental engineering, adaptive optimal control of treatment reactors, molecular modeling in environmental chemistry, and structure activity relationships.

Back to Top