Advanced and emerging issues in drinking water treatment

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There are estimates that Canada suffers from an $80B deficit in municipal water infrastructure, which does not address new spending that may be required to address emerging water quality challenges, repercussions of climate change, and regulatory change. This proposal represents a consortium of 9 major utilities and 3 companies in the drinking water sector, who have identified some of the top priority needs for research and innovation to address these challenges. The five year, $7M research program will focus on health and operational risks associated with cyanobacteria, the emerging threat of microplastics in our tap water, methods to address invasive species in our drinking water sources, novel ultraviolet treatment techniques that have particular applications in water reuse, improvements to the use of activated carbon to control off-flavours and micropollutants, reducing the cost and energy associated with ultrafiltration, and improving disinfection in distribution systems.The project will be led by Profs. Bob Andrews and Ron Hofmann of the University of Toronto, Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering. It will lead to the training of 20 undergraduate students, 22 Master's of Applied Science students, 10 PhD's, and 13 Post-Doctoral Fellows. The outcomes of the research program will measurably improve the quality and security of our drinking water sources in Canada and on a global scale. It will help to inform regulators on whether current standards are sufficient, or whether changes are needed to address some of these emerging concerns. The work will help utilities to deliver safe water effectively and efficiently, and will help to train the next generation of water treatment professionals.