Sustainable Sorbents and Monitoring Technologies for Small Groundwater Systems

This research is developing two hybrid sorbents to simultaneously remove a range of common chemical contaminants to groundwater in extreme environments (Arizona and Alaska). The first hybrid sorbent uses ion exchange resins to remove/concentrate one class of pollutants while metal oxide impregnated materials remove a co-occurring pollutant. The second hybrid sorbent uses activated carbon and Biochar, such that the system could remove both organic (total organic carbon [TOC], herbicides) and inorganic (arsenic chromium, nitrate, fluoride) pollutants. A lab-scale sorbent validation will precede the field-scale demonstration. Technologies will be demonstrated in small systems in Arizona and Alaska chosen for their challenging local issues - Native American/Alaskan lands, extreme temperatures, remote locations, transportation/energy logistics.