Organic Carbon Characterization System

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Four distinct yet complementary research programs will be supported by the requested equipment, which will be used to upgrade our existing Organic Carbon Characterization System (OCCS). The upgrade is needed because some of the system components have reached their functional life and need replacement. The OCCS is essential to measure and comprehensively characterize the different fractions of the natural organic matter (NOM) in raw drinking water sources. Of particular interest is the molecular size distribution of the different NOM fractions and the detection and measurement of emerging contaminants of concern (e.g. pharmaceutical compounds) as well as algal toxins. A comparable OCCS is only available at one other institution in Canada (University of Waterloo). The existing OCCS is essentially in continuous use (24 hours per day, 5-7 days per week) by the supported programs. At any point in time, the research projects of over 10 HQP depends on the availability of the OCCS. Over the lifetime of the existing OCCS (i.e. over the past 20+ years), it is estimated that over 100 students have used and/or benefited from having access to the system. Without an upgrade, the OCCS will not be functional for much longer and the supported research programs will no longer be feasible.