Wastewater sampling tracks contaminents in environment

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Woman wearing white lab coat samples wastewater outside with bright sun in background
 

Cassidy Yates ’20, now a master’s student in environmental engineering, samples wastewater from a treatment facility near New Hampshire’s Great Bay Estuary. Yates is working with her advisor Jim Malley, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and project collaborator Paula Mouser, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, to investigate how contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) such as perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are removed or transformed by wastewater treatment disinfection processes and ultimately released into the environment. By collecting and testing samples from wastewater treatment facilities discharging treated effluent into the Great Bay, the researchers can understand the flow of CECs into our environment and the best ways to limit their introduction in the future. Funded by New Hampshire Sea Grant, the project will help protect our waterways and drinking water sources from further contamination.

Photographer: 
Tim Briggs | NH Sea Grant | Tim.Briggs@unh.edu