Due to potential shortages of freshwater especially in arid and semi-arid regions, treatment of wastewater is increasingly being considered as an alternative to conventional water sources such as surface waters and groundwater. As the potential for human exposure to pathogens in the reclaimed water has been a concern for regulators, treatment standards must be stringent and disinfection system carefully validated and properly operated.

This research project is directed towards the assessment and development of technologies that will complement the UV technologies provided by Trojan Technologies for water/wastewater treatment.  A novel liquid-solid circulating fluidized bed bioreactor (CFBBR) developed at the University of Western Ontario in collaboration with Trojan Technologies has generated a wide interest for commercial application for biological nutrient removal (BNR) from wastewater.  A generic high solids retention time in the CFBBR primarily due to the attached biomass would enhance degradation/removal of the emerg

Ultraviolet photoreactors are commonly used to disinfect drinking water and wastewater. Recently these reactors have been proposed for treating liquid foods such as dairy products, which are much more opaque. The performance of a UV reactor is related to the distribution of UV dose delivered by the reactor. UV-sensitive microspheres have recently been demonstrated as a way to quantify the UV dose distribution in conventional reactors, but have never been used in liquid foods, which present new challenges.

This project is in partnership with the Canadian Water Network. Endocrine disrupting compounds or chemicals (EDCs) generally refer to chemical substances with the capacity to disrupt the endocrine system of animals. Scientific studies on the impacts of EDCs on aquatic wildlife in Canada, particularity studies on fish in the Great Lakes, have brought the issue of EDCs in the aquatic environment to the forefront. Efforts are now ongoing to comprehensively understand the fate of EDCs in wastewater treatment processes and develop effective ways to remove them to satisfactory levels.