Combined microbial and chemical contaminants in water during harmful algal blooms: Treatment challenges and advanced oxidation process development

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Climate change and human activities have degraded the quality of freshwater sources worldwide, including in Canada. Increased simultaneous presence of nuisance algal/cyanobacterial blooms, pesticides, and fecal contaminants in water supply systems constitute a substantial part of our new environmental challenges. Atrazine pesticide presence increases cyanobacteria and E. coli in water. My recent studies have demonstrated for the first time that breakthrough of cyanobacterial cells into treatment plants, along with the presence of associated toxins and other waterborne pathogens including fecal coliform bacteria, would derail the entire treatment including oxidation process and endanger production of safe potable water. Current research and management strategies do not take into consideration the simultaneous presence and interactions of the combined contaminants. Hence, my short-term 5-year objectives (this program) are to (1) discover impact of mixtures of algae, bacteria, viruses and pesticides on water treatment processes for removal of these contaminates in full-scale plants; (2) identify phenomena governing oxidation of cells and metabolites at different growth phases in presence of combined microbial and chemical contaminants with widely used conventional and advanced processes; and (3) explore application of “cold” plasma processes at atmospheric pressure as novel oxidation sources for removing resilient cells and refractive chemicals. My midterm (test the new tech) and long-term (implement them by municipalities/regulatory agencies) objectives will build on the outcome of this 5-year program to expand the research to broader water quality conditions and to use new detection and treatment processes. My first research program will be executed within three tasks corresponding to my short-term 5-year objectives using state-of-the-art analytical techniques and laboratories, pilot and full-scale set-up. Under this program 4 PhD, 2 MSc and 5 undergraduate students will be trained (HQP 11 and 18 papers). The outcome of my study will lay the foundation for the development of a novel in situ multi-detector system for rapid quantification of simultaneous microbial/algal presence. This research program will provide the knowledge that is urgently required to understand the fundamental mechanisms and thus identify the key parameters that impact oxidation reaction kinetics. This will help us understand the underlying phenomena that lead to breakthrough of toxic compounds into oxidized water. Application of plasma for water purification is another important, highly-innovative aspect of my research. This program is the first of its kind generating the knowledge to develop a new treatment solution that would simultaneously degrade resilient microbial and chemical contaminants preventing breakthrough of waterborne pathogens and toxic compounds into potable water.