With the recent expansion of the Environmental Engineering program, research activities are now focused on both surface and subsurface water quality issues. Extensive use is made of numerical simulation techniques as well as controlled laboratory and field experimentation.
In the areas of surface water quality and biotechnological processes, current topics of investigation include the design and operation of low technology wastewater treatment systems for on-site and unserviced applications, and the use of integrated environmental management techniques for the control of surface water degradation resulting from urban storm runoff. In the area of subsurface water quality, research within the Groundwater Group is being directed at the development of numerical models to simulate multiphase/multicomponent flow and transport in both porous and fractured media, as well as the performance of laboratory experiments to evaluate remedial technologies for the clean-up of chemical spill sites contaminated by hazardous industrial liquids such as PCB oils, jet fuel, and chlorinated solvents.