UTEP Receives Grant for Nanotechnology Water Treatment
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic
University of Texas at El Paso academics are part of a multi-university team that received a five-year, $18.5 million National Science Foundation grant to clean drinking water using nanotechnology
UTEP, Rice University, Arizona State University and Yale University will use the grant to establish an Engineering Research Center in Houston to develop cheap, mobile treatment systems that use nanotechnology rather than chemicals to clean water.
The systems could be used in rural areas, humanitarian and emergency responses or industrial wastewater reuse, like in oil and gas fields, UTEP project leader Jorge Gardea-Torresdey said.
"Drinking water is a very important subject," said Gardea-Torresdey, chairman of UTEP's chemistry department. "Water is very important to increasing the life expectancy. ... The aim is to help humankind."
About 43 million Americans don't have municipal water sources, getting water primarily from private wells, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Worldwide, more than 780 million people lack access to safe, potable water, according to the World Health Organization.
Gardea-Torresdey pointed to nearby colonias, which often lack sewage systems and rely on wells for water.
"I have sampled the water — it's very contaminated — and they are drinking it," Gardea-Torresdey said.
The researchers propose using nanomaterials to remove contaminants from water, such as arsenic, lead and mercury.
They are experts in nanotechnology, or science, engineering and technology on a nanoscale, typically less than 100 nanometers in size. The most common cold virus, rhinovirus, for example, is 30 nanometers.
Nanotechnology could clean water with fewer chemicals and produce less waste than typical treatment efforts, like chlorine, Gardea-Torresdey said.
"Nobody has done it," he said. "There are no water purification systems using nanotechnology."
The group will spend the first three years developing the technology and testing it, with the hope that they will create mobile water treatment systems that can fit in semi-trucks within 10 years, he said.
Though the center will be in Houston, all participating universities will help develop and test the technology, he said. The researchers will be splitting their duties in the coming weeks, he said.
Gardea-Torresdey said he expects the grant will allow UTEP to hire 15 to 20 students to work on the project.
Source: El Paso Times
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