Team to Study Water Quality Improvement

Armed with grants totaling more than $836,000, a team of UC Irvine researchers will launch three studies aimed at improving drinking water quality and reducing pollution flowing into the nation’s waterways.

Funding for the projects comes from local water agencies and the National Water Research Institute, an Orange County-based study group that recently received more than $1 million from the Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie R. Clarke Foundation.

The first study will examine levels of carbon compounds in water from the Santa Ana River, much of which is treated waste water that seeps into Orange County’s underground water basin.

“This water contains a myriad of carbon compounds. Some are nutrients that can enhance microbial growth . . . and support pathogens that otherwise wouldn’t find enough food to survive,” said Betty Olson, professor of social ecology and chair of environmental analysis and design at UCI.

Olson will work with Henry Lim, biochemical engineering professor, Dele Ogunseitan, a researcher, and several postdoctoral fellows and graduate students to measure, map and monitor the levels of these organic carbon compounds in areas where river water migrates into the ground water basin.

“We then will use this information to develop possible treatments needed to protect the ground water basin from increased microbial growth,” Olson said.

That three-year study is funded by grants of $320,000 each from the research institute and the Orange County Water District.

Another one-year study will explore genetic alteration of certain bacteria to improve their ability to remove nitrates and phosphates from waste water, Olson said. That project is being funded with $100,000 from the national water research agency and $47,000 in matching funds from the Irvine Ranch Water District.

The third project will examine the virulence of certain pathogens in sewage and waste water. Olson said molecular biology techniques now make it possible to screen E. coli bacteria for genes that can produce stomach ailments in humans and animals. The Sanitation Districts of Orange County has given the UCI team $49,500 for the first year of the two-year study.

“Although there is tremendous dilution before treated waste water is released, it is very important to know just how much of this potentially harmful bacteria we are sending into our oceans and rivers,” Olson said.