Solar Driven Destruction of Pesticides, Pharmaceuticals, Contaminants in Water
Pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural nutrients serve important functions in crop production and the treatment of disease. However, these chemicals become pollutants when discharged into surface waters through wastewater, storm water, and agricultural runoff. There are natural processes, though, that help break down and remove these pollutants from water. One such process is the role that sunlight interacting with dissolved organic matter naturally present in surface water from decaying plant materials and algae has in transforming these contaminants. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are using this appropriation to better understand the role this interaction between sunlight and dissolved organic matter has in affecting the fate of water pollutants in order to optimize water treatment methods and guide effective water reuse.
$291,000 the second year is from the trust fund to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to quantify the solar-driven destruction of contaminants reacting with dissolved organic matter to optimize water treatment methods and guide reuse. This appropriation is available until June 30, 2017, by which time the project must be completed and final products delivered.
Click on Work Plan under Project Details.
Click on Work Plan under Project Details.