Knowledge Area: Trace Organics

Our Objective

WERF will provide the tools and data that facility and industry managers need to evaluate public health and environmental impacts, to determine treatment effectiveness, and to support optimization decisions and risk communications with their constituents for trace organic compounds in treated effluents, receiving waters, and in water for reuse.

Latest News

Application of Site Screening Tools to Evaluate Ecological Effects from Trace Organics in the...
WERF researchers lead by John Wolfe at Limno Tech will be executing a Phase II research effort to demonstrate and refine the application of site screening tools previously developed (Stock no. CEC5R08 Diagnostic Tools to Evaluate Impacts of Trace Organic Compounds) to assist water quality managers in evaluating the potential for adverse ecological effects associated with exposure to trace organic compounds (TOrC) that may be present in treated wastewater and receiving waters.
Risk Management and Trace Organic Compounds in Land-Applied Biosolids Update
Risk assessments are needed to determine whether there is any significance in the levels of trace organic compounds found in biosolids-amended soils. WERF has developed a significant first step toward answering this question.
New GWRC Research Available
New Global Water Research Coalition research is now available for WERF subscribers: Bioanalytical Tools to Analyze Hormonal Activity in Environmental Waters - Review of the state-of-the-science. [PDF, 4.2 MB]
Brief Overview: WERF project U2R11
A year of research has been completed under WERF INFR6SG09, investigating bench scale use of UV disinfection with an advanced oxidation processes (UV-AOP) in wastewater effluents demonstrating the effectiveness of UV-AOP on carbamazepine (CBZ) and discovering the impact of native wastewater nitrate in enhancing the oxidative decay of CBZ even in the absence of hydrogen peroxide.
Research Continues to Seek Understanding of Treatment, Removal, and Fate of Trace Organic Compounds
The latest issue of WERF’s newsletter Progress features several ongoing and recently completed trace organics research.
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Products & Tools

Trace Organic Chemicals in Biosolids-Amended Soils: State of the Science Review
This report (SRSK5T09) identifies the data gaps that limit our ability to assess potential environmental and human health impacts of biosolids-borne trace organics in soils.
Trace Organics State of the Knowledge Report (PDF)
Report: Diagnostic Tools to Evaluate Impacts of Trace Organic Compounds
This project (CEC5R08) had five objectives: 1) develop and apply a procedure to prioritize which TOrCs are of most concern; 2) develop and test a conceptual diagnostic framework to identify TOrCs by source type; 3) develop exposure-response models for high priority TOrCs; 4) develop and populate a relational database of TOrC exposure and effects data; and 5) foster partnerships and transfer knowledge to the water quality community. The final report summarizes approaches used and results obtained, discusses critical data gaps and other uncertainties, and provides testable hypotheses and recommendations for Phase 2 testing and analyses.
E-Beam Irradiation: The Future of Disinfection?
The vision of future wastewater treatment plants is one of high-value resource recovery operations rather than just locations for the treatment and disposal of municipal wastes.
Trace Organics Roadmap Participants Reunite at 2009 Micropol and Ecohazard Conference
The developers of WERF's Trace Organics Roadmap reunited June 8-10 at the 2009 Micropol and Ecohazard Conference in San Francisco. View their 2009 research updates.
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