Sustainability of Water Resource Recovery Facilities

Dr. Pablo K. Cornejo
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
CSU, Chico

Many of us recognize that proper sanitation is the key to health and much preventable disease and death across the globe. Conventional water and wastewater treatment facilities have traditionally provided critical sanitation in the developed world. But as minerals and water resources become more valuable globally, some municipalities look to sanitation facilities for an unconventional application: the “mining” of wastewater to meet the demand for water, minerals, and fuels.

Dr. Pablo Cornejo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at CSU, Chico explains the current standard of wastewater treatment, as well as how Struvite, a mineral-rich, wastewater precipitate once viewed as a nuisance to treatment facilities, may become a valuable resource that can be turned into fertilizer and cooking fuel, leaving the water ready to be used as agricultural irrigation. Dr. Cornejo explores these and other interesting advancements in the future of water reclamation, efficiency, and how these can contribute positively to the planet.

Recorded: April 25, 2018