Research Activities

 

Research projects at the Drinking Water Research Center can be divided into seven broad categories,

Chemistry

 

Principal Investigator Sponsor Title
Knappe American Water Works Association Research Foundation Effects of Activated Carbon Surface Chemistry and Pore Structure on the
Adsorption of Trichloroethene and Methyl Tertiary-butyl Ether from Natural Waters 
Singer/
Weinberg 		Association of Schools of Public Health Assessment of Chlorinated Disinfection By-Product Exposure in Metropolitan Atlanta:  Linkages to CDCs Birth Defects Risk Factor Surveillance Program 
Singer/
Weinberg 		American Water Works Association Research Foundation Formation, Occurrence, Stability and Dominance of Haloacetic Acids and Trihalomethanes in Treated Drinking Water 
Singer/
Weinberg 		COLOSTATE Development of Methods for Predicting Trihalomethanes (THM)
and Haloacetic Acids (HAA) Concentrations in Exposure Assessment Studies 
Singer/
Weinberg 		US Environmental Protection Agency Ozonation and Enhanced Coagulation for Control of DBPs 
Singer/
Weinberg 		US Environmental Protection Agency Development of a New Simple Innovative Procedure for the Analysis of Bromate and Other Oxy-Halides at Sub-pbb Levels in Drinking Water 
Swenberg American Water Works Association Research Foundation Identification and Quantification of DNA Adducts Derived from Disinfection By-Products 
Weinberg University (NC) Research Council Preliminary Studies of Solid Phase Micro-Extraction for the Isolation of
Polar Disinfection By-Products from Drinking Water 
Weinberg US Environmental Protection Agency Formation and Stability of Ozonation By-Products in Drinking Water 
Weinberg US Environmental Protection Agency Occurrence of Drinking Water Disinfection By-Products 
Weinberg MIOX Corporation and Los lamos Technical Associates   Mixed Oxidant Speciation
Weinberg American Water Works Association Bromate Occurrence in Chlorinated Waters  
Weinberg   Method Development and Analysis of Bromate Uptake in Food During Cooking

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Economics

 

Principal Investigator Sponsor Title
Kaiser/Moreau
  		NCDC Guidelines for North Carolina Local Government Development Plans:
Incorporating Water Quality Objectives in a Comprehensive Land Planning Framework 
Lauria Asian Development Bank Economic Evaluation of Water and Sanitation Systems in Faisalabad,  Pakistan 
Lauria German Technical Cooperation Agency Willingness to Pay for Improved Water and Sanitation in Niger, West Africa 
Lauria US Agency for International
Development 		Pilot Project for Water Sector Privatization in Egypt
Lauria US Agency for International
Development  		Water Pricing Policy in Kazakstan
Lauria World Bank Willingness to Pay for Improved Water and Sanitation Services in Dakar, Senegal 
Whittington World Bank Household Demand for Improved Water and Sanitation in the Eastern
Islands of Indonesia  
Whittington World Bank Participatory Assessment of Household Demand for Improved Drinking Water Quality in Odessa, Ukraine 

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Engineering

 

Principal Investigator Sponsor Title
DiGiano Water Resource Research Institute
 A Simplified Bacterial Regrowth Model for Distribution Systems Incorporating Uncertainty Analysis 
DiGiano Orange Water and Sewer Authority
 Alternative Water Treatment Processes to Remove Odor-Causing Compounds
DiGiano Camp Dresser & McKee Rapid, Small-Scale Column Test for Evaluation of Granular Activated Carbon Treatment of the Fayetteville, NC Water Supply
DiGiano American Water Works Association Research Foundation Testing of Thin-film Composite Nanofiltration Membranes Fabricated from A New Class of Hydrophobic-Hydrophilic Block Copolymers
Knappe American Water Works Association Research Foundation & NC Urban Water Consortium Optimization of Treatment to Mitigate Impacts of Algae and Algae Control on Finished Water Quality
Knappe American Water Works Association Research Foundation
 Effects of Activated Carbon Surface Chemistry and Pore Structure on the
Adsorption of Trichloroethene and Methyl Tertiary-butyl Ether from Natural Waters
Lauria Water Resource Research Institute Optimal Reservoir Operation for Durham, North Carolina
Lauria United Nations Development
Program 		Evaluation of UNDP's Capacity Building Initiatives in Latin America
Lauria City of Durham, NC Drought Management Plan for Durham, North Carolina
Linden American Water Works Association Research Foundation & US Environmental Protection Agency Innovative UV Technologies to Oxidize Organic and Organoleptic Chemicals
Linden Water Environment Research Foundation   Fate and persistence of pathogens subjected to disinfection
Linden University of North Carolina Ultraviolet radiation dose measurement for inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum and other pathogens in potable water
Linden American Water Works Association Research Foundation Disinfection efficiency and dose measurement for medium pressure and pulsed-UV disinfection systems
Singer/ 
Weinberg 		US Environmental Protection Agency Ozonation and Enhanced Coagulation for Control of DBPs 
Singer US Environmental Protection Agency Exposure Assessment Associated with Halogenated Disinfection By-Products
in Drinking Water and Potential Birth Defects
Singer University Research Council

Aggregation and Removal of Particles in Drinking Water Treatment by Two-Stage Filtration
Singer/DiGiano NC Supercomputing Center
Application of Computation Fluid Dynamics for Prediction of Disinfection
Efficiency in Drinking Water Treatment  

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Epidemiology


Principal Investigator
Sponsor Title
Hertz-Picciotto Reproductive and Developmental Effects Associated with Chronic Arsenic Exposure
Hertz-Picciotto Tetrachloroethylene in Drinking Water and Birth Outcomes at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune
Moe Association of Schools of Public Health Infectivity and Dose-Response of Cyclospora oocysts in Human Volunteers
Moe Center for Disease Control IPA to Provide Expertise on Water and Health Projects at the National Center for Environmental Health
Moe US Environmental Protection Agency
 Detection and Occurrence of Human Caliciviruses in Drinking Water
Moe US Environmental Protection Agency Studies of the Infectivity of Norwalk and Norwalk-like Viruses


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Microbiology

 

Principal Investigator Sponsor Title
Ball US Environmental Protection Agency 
Metabolic Fate of Halogenated Disinfection By-Products in Vivo, and Relation to Biological Activity 
Ball US Environmental Protection Agency
Metabolic Fate of Halogenated Disinfection By-Products in Vivo, and Relation to Biological Activity 
DiGiano Water Resources Research Institute 
A Simplified Bacterial Regrowth Model for Distribution Systems Incorporating Uncertainty Analysis 
Moe Association of Schools of Public Health 
Infectivity and Dose-Response of Cyclospora oocysts in Human Volunteers 
Sobsey Moe US Environmental Protection Agency
Detection and Occurrence of Human Caliciviruses in Drinking Water 
Moe US Environmental Protection Agency Studies of the Infectivity of Norwalk and Norwalk-like Viruses 
Sobsey American WaterWorks Association Research Foundation  Electrochemically Generated Mixed Oxidant Disinfection of Drinking Water Pathogens
Sobsey UNC - Charlotte Fate and Persistence of Pathogens Subjected to Disinfection 
Sobsey US Environmental Protection Agency Detecting and Characterizing Fecal Contamination and Its Sources in Ground and Surface Water(Watersheds and Aquifers) 
Sobsey Water Resources Research Institute Microbial Impacts of Animal Wasteson Water Resources

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Risk Assessment

 

Primary Investigator Sponsor Title
Ball US Environmental Protection Agency  Metabolic Fate of Halogenated Disinfection By-Products in Vivo, and Relation to Biological Activity 
Crawford-Brown Rosen American WaterWorks Association Research Foundation  Development of a Methodology to Identify Emerging Pathogens and Determine Uncertainty in Risk
Crawford-Brown City of Anaheim, California Review of Risk Assessments for Orange County Water Reclamation Project 
Crawford-Brown
  		US Environmenta lProtection Agency Workshop on Biomathematical Modeling of Risks of Disinfection By-Products 
La National Institute for Environmental HealthSciences Environmental Fate and Potential Human Exposure to Carcinogens - Project 1 -DNA Adducts as Biomarkers of Exposure And Effect 
La American WaterWorks Association Research Foundation Identification and Quantification ofDNA Adducts Derived fromDisinfection By-Products 
Swenberg American WaterWorks Association Research Foundation Identification and Quantification of DNA Adducts Derived from Disinfection By-Products

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Water Policy


Principal Investigator Sponsor Title
Kaiser/Moreau NCDC Guidelines for North Carolina Local Government Development Plans: Incorporating Water Quality Objectives in a Comprehensive Land Planning Framework 
Lauria City of Durham, NC Drought Management Plan for Durham, North Carolina 
Lauria German Technical Cooperation Agency  Willingness to Pay for Improved Water and Sanitation in Niger, West Africa 
Lauria United Nations Development Program  Evaluation of UNDP's Capacity Building Initiatives in Latin America
Lauria United States Agency for International Development  Pilot Project for Water Sector Privatization in Egypt
Lauria United States Agency for International Development  Water Pricing Policy in Kazakstan
Lauria World Bank Willingness to Pay for Improved Water and Sanitation Services in Dakar, Senegal 
MoreauKomives Water Resources Research Institute  Sampling Strategies for Estimating Status and Cost of Watershed Management Policies 
Whittington
  		US Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Evaluation of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries
Whittington World Bank Household Demand for Improved Water and Sanitation in the Eastern Islands of Indonesia 
Whittington World Bank Participatory Assessment ofHousehold Demand for Improved Drinking Water Quality in Odessa, Ukraine

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