LAS VEGAS – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $24,994 in funding for a student team at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) as part of the Agency’s People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) Program seeking solutions to environmental and public health challenges. The UNLV team, one of 21 award winners nationwide, is researching a cost-effective, simple process using agricultural waste biomass products to clean the drinking water supply.
The student team will assess the capacity of these products for removal of potentially harmful disinfection byproducts in drinking water. Removal of disinfection byproducts through a simple and low-cost process, like adsorption, is important because they are harmful to human health and are linked to cancer. This cleaning process can be especially important during emergency situations or times of temporary water treatment and can benefit vulnerable populations.
“EPA’s P3 program, now in its twentieth year, is an exciting and unique program that recognizes the power of students to translate imagination and science into new solutions that protect human health and the environment,” said Chris Frey, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “Congratulations to this year’s teams. Their innovative projects tackle critical environmental issues and include an eco-friendly coating to reduce contamination in marine environments, a device to remove microplastics from stormwater, an air monitoring and filtration technology to reduce student exposures to air pollutants, and more.”
The University of Nevada-Las Vegas investigators are among 21 awardees that will receive grants of up to $25,000 each to help develop a proof of concept and will be eligible to compete for a Phase II grant of up to $100,000 to implement their designs further.
Learn more on EPA’s webpage about the University of Nevada Grantee Research Project Results for Optimized biochar/hydrochar for disinfection byproduct removal in water.
Learn more about the P3 Phase I winners.
Learn more about EPA’s P3 program.
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from EPA News Releases https://ift.tt/LDaJ8MR