This project determined how the presence of environmental biofilms on sand, granular activated carbon and biochar affected the sorption capacity and desorption quantity of copper, zinc, nutrients and organic carbon from stormwater. These contaminants have harmful and toxic environmental impacts on aquatic life, can lead to eutrophication of surface waters,...
Acid whey is the largest byproduct of the dairy industry but to date has few useful applications and is frequently discarded as a result. However, acid whey has a high carbon content, making it a suitable co-substrate for anaerobic co-digestion with raw sewage sludge. The synergistic effect of co-digestion has...
A dissertation describing the results of a series of greenhouse experiments conducted to better understand phytoremediation in stormwater bioretention systems.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was unprepared for such a massive challenge to global health. Individual testing kits and personal protective equipment were scarce. There were minimal ways to track the rapid spread of the disease, until researchers discovered that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,...
Over the last two decades, urban stormwater management has grown to include green infrastructure, such as bioswales. These systems were primarily designed to mitigate hydraulic peaking during rainstorms but were also found to remove particulate and dissolved contaminants. However, little is known about the fate of these particulate contaminants after...
Food waste (FW), brewery waste (BW), and fats, oils, and greases (FOG), are prevalent waste streams in municipalities across the country, particularly in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Anaerobic digestion (AD), the microbial-mediated transformation of organic waste into methane-rich biogas, offers a sustainable, energy-generating, waste management solution for these wastes. Anaerobic...
The natural production of methane via anaerobic digestion (AD) is facilitated by a complex community of microorganisms, primarily bacteria and archaea, referred to as the AD microbiome. AD is growing in prominence as a solution to the disposal of food waste, sewage sludge, and the organic fraction of municipal solid...
Best Management Practices (BMP) are widely used as a method for stormwater volume control in urban areas to prevent an overload of water on receiving water bodies and treatment facilities. BMPs ability to treat stormwater has gone under critical review in the last few decades, and their performance varies both...
With a growing demand for renewable sources of freshwater around the world, stormwater offers a potential solution. However, various pollutants can be present within stormwater, such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria, that present a danger to human health if stormwater is used for agricultural purposes. Biochar has the capability to remove bacteria...
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Tyler Radniecki, Committee Member, representing the School of Environmental Engineering
Livestock grazing is the prominent land use in Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S.L. Welsh) steppe and has been present since the late 1800’s. There have been calls to remove livestock grazing from rangelands as historic grazing practices resulted in the degradation of some...