Science Inventory

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This study reports on creating a bacteria Log Reduction Value (LRV) database from the largest known systematic literature review extracting bacteria log reduction values for chemical and physical water treatment processes. Systematic identification and extraction of data from the...

Water quality impacts public health and is influenced by a wide range of factors, from stagnation and associated loss of disinfectant and formation of disinfection byproducts, to growth of microorganisms (e.g., Legionella), to potential contamination after a chemical spill. Flush...

Hot water systems – water heaters and connected downstream plumbing and fixtures – are at the center of the water-energy nexus. They are ubiquitous and deliver an essential service but are subject to water quality degradation and health risks, scalding risks, energy c...

Legionella pneumophila (Lp) is an opportunistic drinking water pathogen that can cause infections through the inhalation of Lp-containing aerosols and can occur in premise plumbing systems. In this work, the use of copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) ions was evaluated at the bench and p...

Built environments, such as occupational buildings, often contain complex plumbing systems. While these complex systems are designed to deliver water on demand to the occupants, these plumbing systems also need to be maintained to reduce the uncontrolled growth of microbial popul...

Aims: We investigated the combined effects of pipe materials and disinfection chemicals on bacterial community and its active fraction in water and biofilms in a pilot-scale premise plumbing system. Methods and Results: The changes in bacterial communities were studied within fo...

Opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) have been associated with waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. In this study, a 16S rRNA gene sequencing approach was used to investigate the vertical stratification of the microbial community and selected OPPPs in an...

Waterborne outbreaks and infections in the US, caused by opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens such as Legionella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and non-tuberculosis mycobacteria, have been on the rise over the last 15 years. These organisms are known to form biofilms, making t...

In recent years, cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported in municipalities served by a New Jersey water system. In August 2020, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) notified the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) of multiple Legionnaires’ d...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most revolutionary technologies, significantly transforming drinking water research. This presentation explores the use of AI tools (machine learning and neural network) to enable more accurate, fast, and predictive models for drinking w...

Opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) have been associated with waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. In this study, a 16S rRNA gene sequencing approach was used to investigate the vertical stratification of the microbial community and selected OPPPs in an...

In this presentation, we will highlight our recent research in three critical areas:Molecular Harmful Algal Monitoring: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) pose a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems. Our team has made substantial progress in understanding these blooms and their impa...

Nitrification is a serious water-quality issue in chloraminated engineered water systems (EWSs). Nitrification is often remediated by a chlorine burn (i.e., a free¿chlorine conversion), a short-term switch from chloramination to chlorination in EWSs. Opportunistic pathogen...

As water scarcity worsens globally, unconventional water sources like condensate from air conditioning (AC) units hold promise for distributed water; however, contamination risks from such atmospheric water sources have been minimally explored. The team collected data from over 8...

Atmospheric water harvesting can provide a high-quality water source for potable or non-potable applications.  However, like other water sources, collected condensate must be managed appropriately to prevent microbial growth.  Of particular concern are opportunistic pathogens suc...

A strategy for nitrification control within chloraminated drinking water system (CDWSs) is to temporarily switch from chloramine secondary disinfection to free chlorine, also known as a free chlorine conversion (FCC).  However, the long-term and beneficial effects of FCC are uncl...

The main objective of this research is to develop a device with a method that prevents biofilms formation and further inactivates opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) such as Legionella in water plumbing systems using multiple wavelength ultraviolet (UV) light emittin...

Many factors, including microbiome structure and activity in the drinking water distribution system (DWDS), affect the colonization potential of opportunistic pathogens. The present study aims to describe the dynamics of active bacterial communities in DWDS and identify the facto...

Legionella pneumophila is a persistent opportunistic pathogen that poses a significant threat to domestic water systems. Previous studies suggest that copper (Cu) is an effective antimicrobial in water systems. A rapid and sensitive quantification method is desired to optimize th...

Legionella pneumophila (Lp) is an opportunistic drinking water pathogen that can cause infections through the inhalation of Lp-containing aerosols. Lp can occur in premise plumbing systems as these systems often have low disinfection residual, high surface area-to-volume ratios, ...

The plumbing systems of buildings are often found to contain opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) such as Legionella, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), and Pseudomonas with the potential to cause waterborne diseases. The objective of this study is to characterize mic...

The project team evaluated the device at multiple wavelengths to assess optimal performance under specific conditions for select contaminants and a suite of contaminants.  This collaboration focused on the following:  - Reactor optimization and flow scale-up,  - Mo...

Opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) have been detected in buildings’ plumbing systems causing waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. In this study, we monitored the occurrence of OPPPs along with free-living amoeba (FLA) and investigated the effects of re...

Context:  Legionella pneumophila is the etiologic agent responsible for causing >90% of legionellosis cases in the United States.  Legionellosis transmission primarily happens by the inhalation or aspiration of contaminated water aerosols or droplets. Therefore, methods are neede...

Background: Legionellosis is a respiratory infection caused by Legionella pneumophila bacteria that are found in water and soil. Infection may cause severe pneumonia (Legionnaires’ Disease) and milder illness (Pontiac Fever) and is a particular concern for the elderly. Legi...