Dr. Olya Keen Research in the News

Treating Algal Toxins in Drinking Water with Dr. Olya Keen

Excerpted from an article by Justin Lindemann, NC Water Resources Research Institute

Reprinted with permission

Olya Keen, Ph.D., a civil and environmental engineer at the University of North Carolina Charlotte’s (UNC Charlotte) William States Lee College of Engineering, studies emerging contaminants and wastewater treatment, through ultraviolet (UV) based technology, advanced oxidation, and biological treatment. She was a WRRI-supported researcher in 2019 for her work on treating algal toxins in drinking water through UV applications.

The project focuses on the comparative usage of UV/Cl2 (UV and chlorine) and UV/H2O2 (UV and hydrogen peroxide) advanced oxidation to treat algal toxins in sources of drinking water that could be susceptible to harmful algal blooms, which are quite common in warm freshwater environments with lots of phosphorus and nitrogen nutrients and can have negative impacts on human health. Advanced oxidation is a chemical treatment process designed to decompose organic material in water, in particular chemicals that may be harmful even at low concentrations. Additionally, UV alone without the addition of Cl2 or H2O2 is a common disinfection method for drinking water and wastewater before it is returned back into the waterways.

At a drinking water treatment plant, water is typically chlorinated after advanced oxidation, to prevent any microbial growth in the water distribution pipes that move the water to and from its source, Keen explains. But she adds that “this chlorination process generates disinfection byproducts that are carcinogenic and need to be mitigated.” Basically, the common practice of using chlorine as a disinfectant, can bring about unhealthy consequences; for those that might later consume/use the water — and thus needs to be reduced.

Keen’s research interests center around the detention and treatment of emerging contaminants, advanced water and wastewater treatment technologies, and ultraviolet-based processes and ozone based advanced oxidation processes.

Read more about her research here: https://coefs.uncc.edu/okeen