Our team at the Center for WaSH-AID works across the water space to design innovative treatment technologies to meet a variety of market needs. We focus on both water filtration and water treatment, and specifically on the challenge of applying materials synthesized in the lab to the requirements of different applications and customers.
Current projects include the treatment of nutrients in stormwater, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, and phosphorus in wastewater.
“In the US, we’re lucky that when we turn on the tap, we get clean potable drinking water. It’s easy to forget where all that water comes from,” says assistant research professor Julia Darcy. “Different water sources can have vastly different characteristics and treatment requirements.”
Our group’s strategy involves working with highly versatile, tunable materials that can be adapted to meet the needs of different water sources. “Adaptability is key, not only for specific contaminants, but for specific use cases.” says postdoctoral associate researcher Sebastian Acosta-Calle. “The requirements for a stormwater filter drain are very different from the filtration strategies in a drinking water plant.”
The Center is working with several commercial partners to reduce these filtration and treatment technologies to practice. Listening to the challenges of customers and tuning our technologies to solve their specific use cases is at the core of our approach to applied research.
Photo: Reseacher Sebastian-Acota-Calle in WaSH-AID lab.