Sustainable Stormwater Technologies for Improving Water Quality and Aquifer Recharge.

Non-point pollutants from stormwater are a major cause of water quality degradation. We have worked in the field and the laboratory to understand and develop green technologies to remove pollutants from stormwater using biological processes and novel geomedia applications. While in the Midwest my focus was on pollutant removal for protecting surface water, whereas in California the goal was to recharge aquifers to augment future water supplies. Continuing and future work will focus on adapting the engineered natural treatment systems developed for urban stormwater and adapt them to pollutant removal in agro-ecosystems.

We recently began collaborating with the City of Coralville, IA where a new bioretention cell was installed with biochar added to the infiltration media mix.