Water Quality

Valuing Regional Water Supply Planning and Conservation Alternatives

Water for Life: Addressing a 21st Century Crisis

University of Illinois Graduate College Focal Point Program

Presenting December 3, 2010: Matias Attene-Ramos
Human Quantitative High Throughput Screening of Drinking Water DBPs
(watch streaming video)

The great challenges of the age demand a rigorous interdisciplinary scientific approach in which the scholarship and skills of many are integrated into sustainable solutions. Potable freshwater is essential for life; it impacts all areas including health, food, energy, and economic output. While the United States has abundant freshwater, competing demands severely limit this resource for growth in the 21st century. Recent environmental catastrophes, such as regional floods and droughts, enhanced source water contamination and resistant waterborne pathogens demonstrate the fragility of our municipal water systems. Aquifers throughout the U.S. exhibit declining water levels, chemical contamination, saltwater intrusion and inadequately replenished groundwater. Many aquifers will experience severe supply problems in the next 20 years. Major rivers and watersheds are also being overdrawn and are becoming saltier downstream and have increased levels of chemical pollutants. Ensuring the availability of clean, abundant freshwater for human use is among the most pressing issues facing the United States and the world. To meet these global challenges, graduate students today need to be involved in interdisciplinary approaches in research, innovation, education and implementation to meet the existing and future scientific and engineering challenges in developing and maintaining sustainable water supplies. The goal of this project is to integrate graduate students from diverse academic backgrounds around a focus on the toxicological aspects of water quantity, quality, and novel technologies required to address the challenges of the 21st century.