University of Massachusetts Amherst investigates treating drinking water with UV radiation
SANTO DOMINGO. - Treating drinking water with ultraviolet radiation is a possibility being studied by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of that university, visited the facilities of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), and presented to researchers and students his academic research that focuses on Advanced Oxidation Processes for Water Treatment using UV Radiation.
During his presentation, he explained that the increase in global development increases water pollution and showed the alternative of light as a sustainable water treatment. "The objective is to carry out drinking water treatments for sustainable disinfection of water, which is currently based on chemicals, things that we add to the water to make it safe to drink," he said, referring to the use of chlorine for disinfection of the water and which considers that it can be risky to health if it is not controlled at adequate levels.
Another risk of disinfecting water with chemical substances is that not all places have access or transportation logistics, referring to remote towns that do not have these facilities, which is why it is considered that UV disinfection could be a solution to global level to the problem of drinking water.
Prior to the presentation of her research, Lanzarini-Lopes took a tour of the Analytical and Environmental Services, and Reactors and Bioreactors laboratories of INTEC accompanied by Adriana Rojas and Pamela Tejada, in charge of the two laboratories, respectively.
Later, he held a meeting with the Director of Research Carlos Sanlley, with whom he discussed the possibilities of establishing a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts and INTEC that includes the exchange of students and professors on research topics related to the use of new technologies for the wastewater treatment and water purification, especially those related to ultraviolet radiation.
Professor Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes obtained her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton, Ohio, and her master's and doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Arizona State University. Lanzarini-Lopes holds a patent in her name and has published twelve articles on the subject.
The university presented its vision on the water situation in the last Permanent Seminar on the Dominican Reality of INTEC (SEMPER INTEC), an event in which academics and researchers presented on the Governance and Management of Water in the country. At the end of the presentations, work tables were formed to analyze the topic from different perspectives, which were made up of all attendees and representatives of institutions linked to water management.