Bi-weekly Argonne Water Working Group Meetings

Meetings, open to Argonne staff, are held virtually via BlueJeans every other Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. CDT.

The goal of the Water Working Group meeting series is to provide a forum for Argonne water researchers to discuss selected water topics in depth and foster future water research projects and collaborations.

Upcoming Seminars

The Third Coast Water Seminar series will be resuming shortly.

Webinar Videos from Past Events

Third Coast Water Seminar: Integrating Systems for Potable Reuse and Desalination
January 26, 2022

Dr. Amy Childress will deliver a seminar on Integrating Systems for Potable Reuse and Desalination: Reduced Energy Consumption for Increased Water Supply. The talk summarizes a three-part project that considers synergistic integration of potable water reuse and desalination systems. In the first part, a modeling framework is developed to evaluate combining treated wastewater with seawater reverse osmosis (RO) streams. In the second part, the energy impact of combining RO brine streams and regional brine interceptor/collector streams with wastewater upstream of RO desalination at a potable reuse facility is evaluated. In the third part, noting similarities between treatment processes at seawater RO desalination and potable reuse facilities, the developed framework is used to consider a future scenario of augmenting a potable reuse facility with seawater to meet potable water demand during peak periods and/or droughts.

Third Coast Water Seminar: Removing ​“Forever Chemicals” from Water using Polymers Derived from Corn
October 13, 2021 

Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs), have come under increased scrutiny because of their environmental persistence and association with various health problems. Researchers at Northwestern University have developed porous polymers based on sugars derived from corn that remove PFAS from water effectively and that can be regenerated. In this talk, Dr. Will Dichtel described the origins of this discovery and how his team used the tools of chemistry to rationally improve their relevance to this societal need. 

Third Coast Water Seminars: Biofouling and Scaling Avoidance in RO and NF
September 29, 2021

Biofouling and scaling are both practical issues that can limit the lifetimes of reverse osmosos (RO) and nano filtration (NF) membranes and their recoveries (permeate volume / feed volume) that might be obtained during operation. Both biofouling and scaling can be impacted by appropriate selection of membranes and element design. However, Dr. Steven Jons (DuPont) will focus on describing several other non-conventional approaches that can also be used to control these situations. Experiments at DuPont and elsewhere will be described that point to several approaches for improved system design and operation.

Third Coast Water Seminars: Hydrologic Performance of the NPCC Green Roof
August 25, 2021

This seminar was given by Dr. Cliff Davidson (Syracuse University). Green roofs can reduce combined sewer overflow, minimize flooding, decrease the intensity of the urban heat island, and provide habitat for urban wildlife, among other benefits. In this talk, he examined the hydrologic performance of a 0.56 hectare extensive green roof on a Convention Center owned by Onondaga County in Syracuse, NY. Results of modeling and measurements showed that the roof captures significant amounts of stormwater during all seasons, and allows much of the water to evaporate and transpire to the atmosphere in the days after a storm. A website showing real-time data from the roof was demonstrated.

Third Coast Water Seminars: Smarter Cities and the Energy-Water Nexus
July 28, 2021

This seminar was delivered by Dr. Ashlynn S. Stillwell (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). Cities require energy, water, and other resources to maintain quality of life for habitants, depending strongly on inputs from the surrounding hinterlands. In the move toward smarter cities and infrastructure, these resources and their interconnections face increasing uncertainty under future conditions. How can the energy-water nexus inform smarter cities? Dr. Stillwell discussed how her team considers water and energy connections at both the city scale and the residential scale, demonstrating the value of data for benchmarking, risk analysis, and conservation and efficiency investments. Their results quantify the energy required for U.S. water and wastewater utilities and estimate the potential resource savings from efficiency measures through disaggregation of residential water use.

Third Coast Water Seminars: Tuning Ionic Transport with Nanopores and Ionic Circuits
April 28, 2021

Dr. Zuzanna S. Siwy from the University of California, Irvine will deliver this seminar. Dr. Siwy’s scientific interests have been focused on fabricating synthetic single nanopores with applications in biophysics and nanotechnology. She will show attendees how nanopores can be used as devices for controlling the flow of ions and charged molecules in a solution.

Third Coast Water Seminars: The Profits of Distrust: Confidence in American Institutions and the Rise of Bottled Water
March 31, 2021

Dr. Manny Teodoro from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will explore the linkage between the rise in bottled water and plummeting trust in American government.

Water Around the World - Local Problems, Global Solutions: Intelligent Carbon Management and Energy Use
February 25, 2021 

This is the first seminar in a new event series that is highlighting water-related problems across the US, and the innovative solutions that may be available elsewhere around the world.

Third Coast Seminars: Chemical Free Water Treatment
February 24, 2021 

Dr. Paul Westerhoff, a Regents Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University, delivered a seminar titled, ​“Chemical Free Water Treatment: Disinfection, Softening and Oxidation using Light-Enabled Optical Fibers.”

Third Coast Water Seminars: Three Paths to Solving Six Water Problems
January 27, 2021

This seminar was delivered by Dr. David Sedlak, Plato Malozemoff Professor, Co-Director of Berkeley Water Center, and Deputy Director of NSF Engineering Research Center for Reinventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Sedlak discussed global water challenges. What are the big problems? Why are they so resistant to proposed solutions so far?

Third Coast Water Seminar: Desalination for a Circular Water Economy
December 2, 2020

This seminar was delivered by Dr. Meagan Mauter of Stanford University. This presentation highlighted new tools for assessing innovation needs in water desalination and discussed application of these tools within research and development portfolio design.

Third Coast Water Seminar: Next Generation Desalination Membranes: Where Are We Now?
October 29, 2020

This seminar was delivered by Dr. Menachem Elimelech of Yale University. Dr. Elimelech discussed the state-of-the art existing membrane technologies for water purification and desalination, highlighted their inherent limitations, and established the critical needs for next-generation membranes.

Frontiers in Materials Manufacturing: Materials for Water
October 2, 2020

Argonne’s webinar series Frontiers in Materials Manufacturing provides a unique forum to focus on key material challenges and the various ways in which cutting-edge technology will drive materials manufacturing advances. This first webinar, Materials for Water, features a variety of experts speaking on how manufacturing innovations can figure significantly in solving the global water crisis and how pioneering technologies can deliver next-generation purification materials.

Third Coast Water Seminar Series: Waterborne Disease
September 30, 2020

Argonne partnered with Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Current to launch the first webinar in the Third Coast Water Seminar Series. The aim is to share the latest in water research and technology and spur collaboration in solving pressing water challenges. This inaugural seminar features a webinar by renowned scientist Dr. Rita Colwell of the University of Maryland, who spoke on waterborne disease. 

Water + AI Webinar 
September 29, 2020 

As part of Chicago Water Week (September 28-October 2), this webinar features five presentations by Argonne researchers exploring different aspects of how artificial intelligence can be applied to solve challenges in the water space.