Though a good deal of research has been conducted on the presence and fate of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in municipal wastewater streams, almost no work has been performed on the these compounds in industrial wastewaters. Researcher Paige Novak, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota, is attempting to determine which, if any, plant- and animal-processing industries contain detectable levels of a sub-set of EDCs that the body mistakes for estrogen in the their wastewater effluent, and then determine the fate of these compounds under various treatment scenarios.

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2006 Paul L. Busch Award

Nanomaterials may be a boon to a host of consumer and commercial products, but their effects on our wastewater treatment trains may not always be so positive. Paul Westerhoff and his team at Arizona State University are attempting to provide fundamental knowledge of nanomaterial interactions that will facilitate their control in wastewater treatment plants. It is hoped that this research will improve operations of existing plant processes (e.g., membranes, filters, sedimentation basins, UV irradiation) and catalyze research opportunities on the beneficial use of nanotechnology in diagnostic tools or treatment processes.

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2005 Paul L. Busch Award

Daniel R. Noguera, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and recipient of the 2005 Paul L. Busch Award is the latest in an enviable line of researchers recognized by the award. The annual grant will assist him and his team in the continuation of their current research, uncovering the identity and relevance of microorganisms that perform the enhanced biological phosphorus removal. By pursuing innovative approaches to isolate and study these microorganisms, Noguera hopes to open the door for the development of novel, cost-effective, and reliable EBPR processes. Such research could lead to significant cost-saving and increased performance at many of the world's wastewater treatment facilities.

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2004 Paul L. Busch Award

The recipient of the 2004 Paul L. Busch Award, Bruce Logan, and his research team have discovered that electricity can be produced from wastewater using bacteria in a microbial fuel cell, while at the same time accomplishing wastewater treatment without the use of additional chemicals. It is a groundbreaking discovery with the potential to significantly impact conventional wastewater treatment. It is Logan’s hope that this new technology will one day lead to a process that not only has a reduced operating cost for wastewater treatment, but may also generate excess electricity production.

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2003 Paul L. Busch Award

The 2003 Paul L. Busch award recipient was University of California, Berkeley, professor David Sedlak. His research focuses on the difficult task of cost-effectively removing wastewater-derived chemical contaminants from wastewater. Specifically, Sedlak and his colleagues are developing a family of easily measured chemical probes that will be susceptible to removal by various mechanisms. By measuring the removal of the probes in diverse operating conditions, it will be possible to identify favorable conditions for the removal of wastewater-derived chemical contaminants and then design barrier systems for their removal. During the past decade, Sedlak and his students have studied the fate of hormones and pharmaceuticals in conventional and advanced treatment systems and in engineered treatment wetlands.

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2002 Paul L. Busch Award

As the Paul L. Busch award recipient for 2002, Dr. Lutgarde Raskin and her team are researching molecular tools that will let activated sludge plant operators control microbial communities responsible for the activated sludge foaming that prevents clear effluent. If Dr. Raskin's research is successful, the results will let new wastewater treatment plants address the lipid content unique to the plant's influent wastewater and make the appropriate changes in its design. It could also lead to hand-held, microfluidic devices for providing on-the-fly adjustments within existing plants. Since her work as a researcher began just over 10 years ago, Dr. Raskin's has contributed to understanding of the relationship between system performance and microbial community structure in both anaerobic and aerobic waste treatment systems.

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2001 Paul L. Busch Award

Biological treatment processes in wastewater plants are regularly exposed to subtle and sometimes rapid chemical changes in the influent. Those changes can easily disturb the microbial communities at the heart of activated sludge treatment, degrading the treatment process and, worse, releasing an effluent that could result in health risks, environmental damage, and fines. Dr. Nancy Love, the inaugural recipient of the Paul L. Busch award, is determined to provide the tools needed to respond to chemical stresses in the activated sludge process. Love and her students at Virginia Tech have been working for the past 10 year to elucidate the effects that certain chemical sources have on the activated sludge process. Ultimately, they hope to create a protein-based warning system that will let plant operators detect changes in the influent faster, prevent breakdowns, and optimize the treatment process.

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