UNS: Collaborative Research: Green infrastructure for water-quality improvement in constructed urban streams

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1512109 (McCray) and 1511797 (Mozingo). The U.S. population will increase about 50% over the next 35 years, mostly as urban new development or re-development, presenting a unique opportunity to implement enlightened urban water solutions. Beneficial use of stormwater and recycled wastewater at the local urban scale are innovative water management options but are hampered by regulatory or policy barriers. The primary purposes of this research are (a) to develop engineered modules placed in reaches of constructed urban streams for treatment of selected wastewater or storm-water derived contaminants, including a subset of nutrients (N and P), trace organic chemicals (TrOCs), urban pesticides, metals, and pathogens, and (b) to understand the regulatory, urban planning, and social barriers that must be overcome, and to identify the most conducive urban-planning scenarios to successfully implement this technology at a relevant urban scale. The treatment modules to be developed are termed "biohydrochemically enhanced stream-water treatment" (BEST) modules. If successful, BEST modules would enhance urban water quality, promote beneficial reuse of recycled wastewater and storm water, and provide social benefits. Specific objectives include: (1) Identify engineering design characteristics and regulatory opportunities and barriers important for widespread urban landscape-scale implementation of BEST facilities; (2) Test selected geomedia for removal of priority contaminants using column and intermediate-scale 2-D BEST experiments; (3) Design hydraulically optimal BEST modules using experimental results and mathematical modeling to ensure appropriate flow volume and RT that enable effective biochemical reactions for priority pollutants (4) Test BEST modules in our existing pilot-scale constructed streams using local recycled wastewater and stormwater. The research lessons and infrastructure will be incorporated into required graduate and undergraduate core classes in environmental engineering, design studios in urban landscape design, and a hands-on environmental engineering summer field session. An undergraduate senior design team will participate in the research.