Progress 09/16/18 to 09/15/20
Outputs
Target Audience: Boeing, Environmental Health and Safety Division Undergraduate students in Bioresource Science and Engineering Undergraduate students in Environmental Science Changes/Problems:Year 1 Project Changes (previously reported in annual report): Student Workers on the Project. Recruitment of a graduate student to be supported during YR1 was not achieved. As a way to keep the project on track, a visiting international student (Chong Cao) worked on the project, and opportunities were made available for undergraduate students (Benjamin Therrien, Amberose Longrie, and Jacqualine Kobal) to contribute to and learn from the project. Focusing on BPA as the contaminant for the study. Early inquires indicated that roadway run-off was no longer readily available from transportation departments, particularly considering the volumes that would be required in the original experimental design. The emerging water contaminant of concern was shifted to bis phenol A (BPA), which is a recognized contaminant deriving from many different pollutant sources. Constraining the initial contaminant for study, additionally opened additional lines of inquiry, since biological degradation pathways have been identified for BPA, and can be used to study the processing in the soil-tree system. Change to experimental system design. During early work, itbecame apparent that a larger multi-tree system would produce better data than a small-pot-one-tree system. Additionally, during the design phase standardize parameters were identified specifying the types of materials that would be compatible with the contaminants intended for testing. Thus, task 2 was re-envisioned to incorporate this information, including using more resources for experimental test system design. Other areas of the project were adjusted to compensate for the resource reallocation. Year 2 Project Changes and Problems: Regional Pandemic Shut-Down. Year 2 activities were substantially impacted by COVID Safety mandatory laboratory shut-downs and work slow downs. Research spaces were closed in late March 2020, including the outdoor research area where reactors were being assembled. Emergency permission was obtained to allow access to care for the established trees. However, this permission did not extend to starting experiments, to reactor work, or to training new workers until the region entered Phase I Re-start in late May 2020. Work efforts by PI Heidi Gough shifted from scientific contributions to project administration associated with ensuring daily activities by student workers were completed in a manner that conformed with University guidance and with the lab/space-specific COVID safety plans, including preparing COVID lab safety plans, preparing requests for lab access, monitoring worker attestation and lab work scheduling. Lab and research space access was limited to one occupant at a time, which substantially impacted the quantity of lab work that could be completed, and impeded training of new workers needed to complete the work on schedule. Work priorities were adjusted to focus on completing construction of the reactors and completing/calibrating the irrigation water delivery systems. In addition to lab worker slow-downs, vendors were not able for required experimental supplies and project goals were needfully adjusted as follows. Objective 1. The 2020 growing season experiments could not be completed. Previously identified vendors were unavailable to deliver soils, irrigation lines, hoops for precipitation covers. Access for in-person purchases at Home Improvement garden centers was impeded. Access to UW Surplus became limited - which was the preferred (cost-effective) vendor for irrigation system pumps. In the case of soils, the vendor that was identified while constructing the prototype reactor was no longer in business. Substantial person-hours were shifted to this problem, and the original quarry from which the soils were sourced was identified. Soils were delivered mid-May 2019 (originally planned for March). Limitations on numbers of persons on-site slowed progress in moving delivered soils into the reactors. A result was that the reactors were not ready for the summer season tree growth experiments in Objective 1. Objectives 2-4. These objectives were originally conceived as using the soils from Objective 1. Due to the problems outline above, an alternative source of experimental soils was identified through a collaborator at University of Idaho in mid-July. Soils from long-term wastewater applications sites and associated controls were shipped to the University of Washington for experiments. These arrived in mid-August. This was less than 2 weeks before work Chong Cao was scheduled to end his time at University of Washington. Experiments were completed, but data analysis was not completed by the end of the project deadline, and remains on-going. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Under the supervision of Drs. Heidi Gough and C. Andy James, Abigail Kargol and Chong Cao (visiting student) were trained to use the HPLC-MS/MS for analysis of emerging contaminants, including BPA. Training included sample extractions, processing, and preparation, and instrument operation. Through hands-on experience and lab meeting discussions, undergraduate lab workers have received training in laboratory safety administration, budget and purchase tracking, research tree care, construction of soil-plant experimental reactors, and experimental design. All project students have received first-hand experience and training in research resiliency and adaptation to realized conditions and constraints. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Outreach activities included presentations in college classroom and preparation of a video for prospective college students. These activities are listed in the "Other Products" section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project established systems for testing ecosystem services of urban forests for treatment of contaminated water, with a focus on the organic chemical contaminants. The over-arching goal was to establish knowledge needed for quantification of the treatment potential of urban forests for emerging contaminants including the influence of tree harvesting. In YR1, visiting international students (Pradyumna Kalkarni and Chong Cao) maintained the potted nursery poplar trees needed for the experiments and designed and constructed a prototype experimental treatment vessel needed to document if there are measureable influences of poplar trees on impaired water quality. A graduate student, Abigail Kargol, began work on the project in September 2019. Based on the prototype, 9 experimental reactors were constructed in 2020, each with 3 trees. The reactors were skirted to illuminate precipitation reduce evaporation impacts on the experimental water mass balance. Experimental determination of BPA and ibuprofen sorption coefficients will be determined using the soils from the experimental reactor systems and corrected for soil organic carbon content. Soils from long-term wastewater application sites and associated controls were tested for comparative microbial abilities to degrade BPA, ibuprofen, gemfibrozil, and naproxen. Objective 1. Design Experimental SystemCOMPLETE. And implement experiment to measure impact of tree growth NOT COMPLETED. An experimental test reactor prototype 3 ft high, 2 ft wide, and 6 ft long was constructed. Reactors are designed to each house 3 trees. The reactor in open at the top, and includes a drain hole at the bottom with side ports for collecting soil samples from two depths. Probes were located and purchased to allow collection of soil cores through the side ports, measurement of soil temperature in situ, and to estimate soil moisture in situ. Specifications for irrigation systems were designed for the reactor vessels using materials that would be compatible with the targeted pollutants. Early results demonstrated that top soil that is readily available at nurseries and home improvement centers had significantly higher organic carbon content that soil conditions in small tree groves in peri-urban settings, and was thus not suitable for use in the experiments. Sandy loam soils with low organic carbon content (similar to natural soils) were located and purchased for testing in the reactor systems. This facility closed during pandemic shut-down, and the materials to complete construction on the reactors was obtained instead from a regional quarry. Irrigation lines were connected to the reactors and plumbed through water containers; delivery is through peristaltic pumps controlled for automated timed and volume-specific delivery. Due to shut-down (see the "Changes and Problems" section), data collection on the impacts of impaired water on poplar tree growth was not possible within the project completion timeframe. Project focus shifted to numerical modeling using HYDRUS 1D. This model established that >50 mm water/day would need to be applied during high ET seasons to achieve water recovery. Experiments in the reactors are on-going to demonstrate that this level of water is compatible with the experimental reactor design. Objective 2. Water Quality Testing Methods DevelopmentCOMPLETE and experimentation COMPLETE, data processing - in progress. HPLC-MS/MS methods were tested for BPA, and two students on the project received training on sample preparation and data analysis. Standard curves for BPA were developed over a range of 1 µg/L to 1 mg/L. This ranges was compared to expected concentration ranges in the system to confirm that planned sample sizes and extraction protocols would result with sample concentrations with the range of the standard curve. Laboratory soil column break-through experiments were conducted using soils from long-term wastewater land application sites. Data processing is on-going (see Section 9). Objective 3. Soil Quality Sample Collection MethodsCOMPLETE, Analytical Testing Methods COMPLETE and experimentation IN PROGRESS. Soil characterization was completed including hydrometer testing to determine the percent of sand, silt, and clay. Methods were established in the lab for measuring the organic carbon content of the soils. Protocols for laboratory testing of contaminant transport through soils were established, which will allow quantitative evaluation of the transport of the BPA with higher concentrations and hydraulic loading rates than without disturbing experiments in the soil reactor systems. Experiments to establish soil-specific sorptive model constants were conducted using soils from the poplar reactor prototype and from site with long-term wastewater application. Data processing is on-going (see the "Changes and Problems" section). Objective 4. Microbial transportation of pollutants COMPLETE, DNA extractions COMPLETE and Community Analysis COMPLETE, and comparison to degradation potential ON-GOING. Biologic degradation rate constants for 5 pollutants associated with wastewater were compared between soils with long-term wastewater application and associated controls. Preliminary results showed that for most pollutants the pollutant degradation was the same, suggesting an intrinsic capability of soils to degrade these pollutants. Representatives samples from each soil were processed to identify the bacterial community structure. Data analysis is on-going to evaluate whether bacterial community structure is correlated to degradation ability. Processing of ddPCR work revealed that a gene putatively responsible for BPA degradation is likely located on a plasmid. Work is on-going to confirm this find and to document the implications for bacterial degradation of emerging contaminants.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Kargol (March 6, 2020), Harnessing the Rhizosphere for Wastewater Treatment School of Environmental and Forest Sciences Graduate Student Research Symposium.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Gough (2019) Stormwater Recovery with Low-Energy Green Infrastructure . Prepared for Boeing Environmental Health and Safety.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Gough, Gustafson, and Bura (2020). Water Resource Recovery for Simultaneous Bioenergy Crop Production and Closing Water Loops . Prepared for Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable - Department of Energy.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Kargol (2020) Intrinsic biodegradation of trace-level organic contaminants . Presented to UW-Tacoma Collaborators.
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:Student Workers on the Project. Recruitment of a graduate student to be supported during YR1 was not achieved. As a way to keep the project on track, a visiting international student (Chong Cao) worked on the project, and opportunities were made available for undergraduate students (Benjamin Therrien, Amberose Longrie, and Jacqualine Kobal) to contribute to and learn from the project. Focusing on BPA as the contaminant for the study. Early inquires indicated that roadway run-off was no longer readily available from transportation departments, particularly considering the volumes that would be required in the original experimental design. The emerging water contaminant of concern was shifted to bis phenol A (BPA), which is a recognized contaminant deriving from many different pollutant sources. Constraining the initial contaminant for study, additionally opened additional lines of inquiry, since biological degradation pathways have been identified for BPA, and can be used to study the processing in the soil-tree system. Change to experimental system design. During early work, in became apparent that a larger multi-tree system would produce better data than a small-pot-one-tree system. Additionally, during the design phase standardize parameters were identified specifying the types of materials that would be compatible with the contaminants intending for testing. Thus, task 2 was re-envisioned to incorporate this information, including using more resources for experimental test system design. Other areas of the project were adjusted to compensate for the resource reallocation. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Under the supervision of Drs. Heidi Gough and C. Andy James, Abigail Kargol and Chong Cao (visiting student) were trained to use the HPLC-MS/MS for analysis of emerging contaminants, including BPA. Training included sample extractions, processing, and preparation, and instrument operation. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A graduate student, Abigail Kargol, began work on the project in September 2019. Based on the prototype, 6 experimental reactors will be constructed in fall 2019, each with 3 trees. Systems will be tested for water delivery and water collection, and the reactors will be skirted to prevent precipitation from entering - to allow for experimental mass balances. Experimental determination of BPA and ibuprofen sorption coefficients will be determined using the soils from the experimental reactor systems and corrected for soil organic carbon content.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project will test ecosystem services of urban forests for treatment of roadway run-off contaminants, with a focus on the organic chemical contaminants. The over-arching goal is to establish knowledge needed for quantification of the treatment potential of urban forests for emerging contaminants including the influence of tree harvesting. In YR1, visiting international students (Pradyumna Kalkarni and Chong Cao) maintained the potted nursery poplar trees needed for the experiments, designing treatment vessels, and will conduct preliminary testing to document if there are measureable influences of poplar trees on impaired water quality. Objective 1. Design Experimental System. COMPLETE. And implement experiment to measure impact of tree growth IN PROGRESS. An experimental test reactor prototype 3 ft high, 3 ft wide, and 6 ft long was constructed. Reactors are designed to each house 3 trees. The reactor in open at the top, and includes a drain hole at the bottom with side ports for collecting soil samples from three depths. Probes were located and purchased to allow collection of soil cores through the side ports, measurement of soil temperature in situ, and to estimate soil moisture in situ. Specifications for irrigation systems were designed for the reactor vessels using materials that would be compatible with the targeted pollutants. Early results demonstrated that top soil that is readily available at nurseries and home improvement centers was not representative of soil conditions in small tree groves in peri-urban settings. Sandy loam soils with low organic carbon content (similar to natural soils) were located and purchased for testing in the reactor systems. Objective 2. Water Quality Testing Methods Development COMPLETE and experimentation IN PROGRESS. HPLC-MS/MS methods were tested for BPA, and two students on the project received training on sample preparation and data analysis. Standard curves for BPA were developed over a range of 1 µg/L to 1 mg/L. This ranges was compared to expected concentration ranges in the system to confirm that planned sample sizes and extraction protocols would result with sample concentrations with the range of the standard curve. Objective 3. Soil Quality Sample Collection Methods COMPLETE, Analytical Testing Methods COMPLETE and experimentation IN PROGRESS. Soil characterization was completed including hydrometer testing to determine the percent of sand, silt, and clay. Methods were established in the lab for measuring the organic carbon content of the soils. Protocols for laboratory testing of contaminant transport through soils were established, which will allow quantitative evaluation of the transport of the BPA with higher concentrations and hydraulic loading rates than without disturbing experiments in the soil reactor systems.
Publications
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