The world is in a water crisis. \u201cLess than 1% of Earth’s water is directly available to us,\u201d says Professor of Earth and Environmental Studies Yang Deng, and challenges such as climate change and pollution keep throwing scientists curveballs as they work to provide clean and safe water to an increasingly desperate global population.<\/p>\n
Deng and his team of researchers at the Water Innovation, Sustainability, and Engineering (WISE) Laboratory are working to make the process of providing clean water simpler, more cost effective, more sustainable and available to everyone from first world nations, to developing countries, to victims of natural disasters, to urban households and beyond.<\/p>\n
On May 3, Deng presented the results of his yearlong research as the University Distinguished Scholar for 2020-2021 in a lecture fittingly titled, \u201cInnovative Solutions to Water Challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
After taking viewers through the \u201curban water cycle\u201d \u2013 factoring human activity into the well-known water cycle graphic that school children learn \u2013 Deng notes his team\u2019s ambitious workload: \u201cMy lab is working in drinking water treatment, wastewater reuse, stormwater management, groundwater cleanup, and industrial wastewater treatment.\u201d He shares the WISE Lab\u2019s goal: \u201cUse chemical and physical principles to mitigate contamination in different environmental systems for environmental sustainability\/resilience as well as public\/ecological health.\u201d<\/p>\n
In short, \u201cwe want to protect human and ecosystem health,\u201d says Deng, with \u201ccollaboration as key,\u201d working with experts from various countries and across fields as diverse as economics, chemistry and the social sciences.<\/p>\n
While the WISE Lab has been working on a number of innovative technologies and designs, Deng\u2019s lecture focused on two: ferrate(VI) technologies and beneficial reuse of industrial waste for stormwater treatment. Deng explained that his team was facing the challenge of making water safe from traditional contaminants, but also emerging pollutants such as antibiotics, hormones, algal toxins and PFAS \u2013 \u201cforever chemicals\u201d that have been used on everything from clothing to frying pans.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraditional methods cannot well address these challenges,\u201d says Deng. \u201cThat’s why we need innovation. That\u2019s why our research must focus on new thoughts or solutions for addressing these challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n