Policy - Water Treatment

Water Supply and Treatment

The allocation and treatment of water sustains life, but over 1 billion people—about 20% of the world’s population—lack access to clean drinking water. And water scarcity is increasing as human population increases and, in many regions, as climate gets drier. CAC researchers are focused, not only on the technologically advanced treatment of water here in the US but also on water supply and treatment in developing countries. In such efforts, balancing water supply for people with protection of fishes, plants and waterfowl that also provide benefits to people, becomes an increasing challenge that CAC research is addressing. Researchers from Notre Dame’s Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences are working on diverse solutions for water provision and treatment and also on sewage treatment improvements. Steve Silliman’s research group is collaborating with government officials in Benin and Haiti to identify, model, and manage sources of groundwater pollution, and to provide reliable, safe technology for extracting groundwater. Robert Nerenberg and his colleagues are testing new methods involving bacteria to remove excess nitrogen from sewage, while simultaneously tapping novel energy sources.