This International Research Experience for Students (IRES) proposal from PI Chittaranjan Ray of the University of Georgia will support U.S. students' participation in hypothesis-driven research centered on successful operation of riverbank filtration (RBF) systems for water supply. RBF has been practiced for over a century in Europe, and it is being used more often in the U.S. as cities use RBF to receive filtration credits for pathogen removal under EPA regulations. The U.S. students will collaborate with German teams led by Thomas Grischek of the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden and Paul Eckert of the Düsseldorf Waterworks. In each year over a three year period, four American students, working with German researchers and students, will learn about riverbank filtration (RBF) through an eight-week summer education and research activity in Germany where RBF is used for water supply. The key focus of the study will be on gaining an understanding of the processes involved in RBF and how river dynamics (scouring and clogging) and water temperature changes can affect the quality and quantity of water pumped. Recruitment efforts will be made to recruit female students and under-represented minority students from key collaborating institutions as well as from the University of Georgia.
