New System at WEST Tackles Big Questions

A new pilot-scale ultrafiltration (UF) / reverse osmosis (RO) system is getting a workout as WEST Center faculty and students strive to answer big questions in water reuse. The system, known as the UF/RO Skid, was aquired in partnership with Dow and installed at WEST Center in February 2018.  It takes full advantage of the continuous stream of treated wastewater available at WEST and provides researchers the capability to tackle long-term, continuous, and multi-component projects at the intersection of process engineering, microbiology, chemical contaminants, and toxicology. 

Under the direction of Professor Andrea Achilli, the UF/RO Skid is being utilized to answer questions specifically related to system robustness, energy consumption, and contaminant rejection. The system will also contribute towards the development of microbial and chemical sensor technologies and novel zero-liquid-discharge approaches.