PIRE: Low Energy Options for Making Water from Wastewater

气候变化和全球人口增长需要创造性、低能耗、多学科和多效益的方法来维持水资源。该项目将通过研究和教育促进低能耗方案的开发和部署，以提高水生产率，同时保护人类和生态系统的健康。该项目将世界上两个水资源紧张地区（美国西南部和澳大利亚东南部）的五所不同大学联系起来，在开发和部署雨水罐，生物过滤器和废物稳定池方面具有独特和互补的专业知识，用于饮用水替代和流域保护。研究将：（1）通过利用太阳能和将当地季节性湿地原生的植物和动物群落纳入生物过滤器设计，改善雨水径流中病原体和微污染物的去除;（2）调查分布式采用这些技术对公共卫生、能源消耗和温室气体排放的风险和益处;（3）确定采用这些技术的社会、经济和政策障碍，量化其未定价的好处，并提出促进采用这些技术的经济手段、法规和公共教育措施;以及（4）量化这些技术的分布式采用对城市河流水文、水质和生态的影响。更广泛的影响包括：在家庭范围内处理径流和灰水的绿色技术;向管理人员和工程师传播研究成果;可持续性科学方面的多样化劳动力;关于水可持续性的电子教科书; K-12教学单元，其中包括研究综合夏季活动，包括生物过滤器狂热周;以及针对美国本土高中学生和科学教师的教育项目。该项目由NSF国际科学与工程办公室（OISE）通过其PIRE计划资助。

Climate change and global population growth demand creative, low-energy, multi-disciplinary, and multi-benefit approaches to sustaining water resources. This PIRE will catalyze, through research and education, the development and deployment of low-energy options for improving water productivity while protecting human and ecosystem health. The project links five different universities in two water-stressed regions of the world (southwest U.S. and southeast Australia) with unique and complementary expertise in the development and deployment of rainwater tanks, biofilters, and waste stabilization ponds for potable substitution and watershed protection. Research will: (1) improve the removal of pathogens and micropollutants in storm water runoff by harnessing solar energy and incorporating into biofilter design the plant and animal communities native to local seasonal wetlands; (2) investigate the risks and benefits of distributed adoption of these technologies on public health, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions; (3) identify social, economic, and policy barriers to their adoption, quantify their unpriced benefits and propose economic instruments, regulations, and public education measures to foster their adoption; and (4) quantify the impact of distributed adoption of these technologies on urban stream hydrology, water quality, and ecology. Broader impacts include green technology for treating runoff and gray water at the household scale; dissemination of research results to managers and engineers; a diverse workforce in sustainability science; an electronic textbook (E-book) on Water Sustainability; K-12 teaching modules with research-integrated summer activities, including BioFilter Frenzy Week; and education programs targeting Native American high school students and science teachers throughout the U.S.. The project is funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) through its PIRE program.