Mission & Goals

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Collage of images featuring experiments and tests done at WEST Center

WEST Center Mission

The mission of WEST Center is to ensure a sustainable supply of water for the community while protecting and promoting human and environmental health, with minimal energy inputs.

WEST Center Goals

The WEST Center is uniquely positioned to:

  • Develop, evaluate and demonstrate technologies that advance water and energy sustainable solutions to emerging issues.
  • Provide a holistic view and life cycle analysis of the critical water/energy nexus through novel, basic and applied research.
  • Facilitate technology transfer between UA, public utilities, and the private sector.
  • Provide training, funding, and job/internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate UA students.
  • Educate and train industry professionals and utility personnel.
  • Educate the community with respect to the water/energy nexus.
  • Promote jobs and economic stimulus within the community.
  • Directly assist the region and the world in demonstrating the safety and reliability of recycled water.

Director's Vision

The WEST mission can be accomplished by 21st Century chemistry, microbiology, and engineering research and technology, that allows for optimal treatment of water to desired water quality standards, depending on its intended use. Critical to this is a partnership between the University of Arizona, the private sector, utilities, and the community at large."
 Ian Pepper, Co-Founder and Director of WEST Center