Progress 12/01/20 to 11/30/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Navajo Communities/ Diné people mainly from Tuba City, Cameron, Keyanta, Tonalea, Shonto, Gap/Bodaway, Coalmine, Coppermine, Tsaile, Chinle, Manyfarms, Lukachukai, and nearby areas. We believe that each of our aims has helped support our primary goal. This was the fourth year of the grant (no cost extension year), we have built a set of activities across the Navajo Nation that will promote our outcomes for undergraduates, graduates, faculty, staff, and researchers across Diné College and beyond. Students across our 6 campuses/ centers and microsites have already begun to benefit and move their STEM careers forward through the training provided via this project, and we continue to learn about their goals, struggles, and support needs. We look forward to the continued growth of the work that we started with the financial backing from USDA-NIFA. Changes/Problems:Major problems or challenges are still there for example the topography of the Navajoland is characterized by arid deserts and alpine forests with high plateaus, mesas, and mountains reaching as high as 10,500 feet in altitude. And then, there are low desert regions with an altitude of as low as 5,500 feet. Volcanic activities, wind, and water erosions have formed and carved the Navajo Nation's many majestic mesas, mountains, and canyons. Navajoland boasts a number of world-renowned scenic wonders of the Southwest, e.g., Canyon de Chelly, Shiprock Peak, Monument Valley, Chuska Mountains, Window Rock, and so on (https://navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/locationMap2.htm) Lack of public transportation, dirt roads to reach the target locations, and differences in weather at different locations within the reservation, are natural facts that made it difficult for the team to continue with in-person activities at all locations. For example distance to travel between each of our campuses/centers within the Navajo Nation is approximately 2-3 hours' drive. With limited capabilities and use of virtual mediums, we were able to continue student internships and some outreach activities but actual experimental work started in year two and continued in year four. Due to some issues with nanofiltration membrane efficacy, we had to develop a new membrane that seems more active and now we are ready to do some field study in Tuba City starting spring 2025 while using pre and post-filtration effluent to grow some experimental plants and analysis for chemical and microbial burden. We will need some supplementary funds to support student's salaries and buy supplies. The team at both locations (Diné College and the University of Arizona) enthusiastically worked to complete the tasks as much as possible within the grant period but we know this work needs to continue even after the completion of the grant's fourth year. Which is also important to continue the decision support mechanism at a higher level. The Nanofiltration membrane is being developed and the third round of wastewater effluent testing was done in July 2024, retesting and field testing are planned to continue after the grant period starting in spring 2025. Results from the July 2024 testing are promising, now, we need to develop more units and place them at different locations to analyze their effectivity depending upon the quality of wastewater effluent at those locations. Three batches of student interns have trained while more students are now motivated in water and wastewater science. We will continue our efforts in 2025. Two papers are in the final writing stage and hopefully will be submitted soon. Five research posters have been presented at different forums, and a couple more will be presented in 2025. A startup hoop house installed at Diné College Tuba City location, we planted seeds for three seasonal crops using NTUA-regulated water during the 2022-2024 academic years. The crops did great including Spinach, Greens, Swiss chard, Peas, Fenugreek, and reddish. The first harvest of Fenugreek leaves was ready on November 14, 2022, with 0 microbial load. June's crop of spinach did not do well as it got infested with pests. We treated our raised beds with Neem tree oil spray. In early spring of 2025, we will plant separately a set of experimental plants using nano-filtered wastewater effluent to check and compare the microbial load and see how our results can support our water reuse decision support project. We are also interested in the installation of a solar-based temperature control system in the hoop house to improve plantation conditions in the hoop house throughout the year. Currently, we are looking to find more funding resources to continue this work. The recent settlement of EPA with NTUA somewhere has the role of this project,because our team every few months presented to the Tuba City chapterhouse, and we saw a big change in people's concept of wastewater treatment, the need for an updated wastewater treatment plant, and a better understanding ofwater reuse. Now Navajo communities are more open and aware than before. For details please see the link belowhttps://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/navajo-tribal-utility-authority-agrees-100-million-wastewater-treatment-improvements-0#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%93%20Today%2C%20the%20U.S.%20Environmental,Tuba%20City%20facilities%20in%20Arizona. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The first year of the grant 2020-21 was severely impacted by COVID-related restrictions that had a chilling effect on grant activities during that year. The second year 2021-22 was decidedly more productive followed by the third year 2022-23 and the fourth no-cost extension year, which weresuper busy and successful. Our Water testing event has become a routine now. At the beginning of every semester, we plan two community events one at our Tuba City, AZ campus and the second at our Tsaile, AZ campus. Local community members bring their water samples from all different sources including wells, springs, streams, windmills, and storage tanks to check the quality of water themselves. Our trained water scientists work with them one-on-one to guide them on how to test water for physical and chemical parameters and process for microbial quality using IDEXX colilert, enterolert, pseudolert and legiolert. Beside that our student water scientist process the wastewater effluents for bacterial culture, direct wet mount for protozoa, and further API E20 and PCR for species identification of isolates. The participants subsequently test their water samples for physical and chemical qualities using field testing instruments and test strips. For microbial testing, they use the IDEXX colilert Quanty tray system for the measurement of coliform and non-coliforms. This makes them understand why the quality of water matters and why improper treatment of wastewater could be dangerous when released in the mainstream. These events were organized on March 31, April 07, August 18, and August 25, 2023, then on March 30 and November 08, 2024. Community members, ranchers, and farmers were encouraged to actively engage in the process. Based on the community responses and results from these events and presentations at Tuba City and Chinle Chapterhouses, and the Western Navajo Agency Council we are focusing on the development of a supporting document for the Tuba City wastewater treatment plant extension program. We regularly share the awareness pamphlets during these events and short videos to illustrate means for mitigating contaminants including coliforms (particularly E. coli), other germs, and hazardous chemicals in water are being posted at our project link below https://www.dinecollege.edu/about_dc/nifa-usda-tcrgp-internship/ To date, a total of 26 undergraduate students benefited from the training provided under the current project at both Diné College Tuba City campus and the University of Arizona's KORES lab and wastewater research center in Tucson, AZ. These students along with the research team led by Shazia Hakim, Benita Litson, and Karanikola Vasiliki, assisted both student interns and community members with various onsite physical/chemical measurements that included sample pH, Electro-conductivity, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids, Total Chlorine, Fluoride, Iron, Ammonia, Phosphates, and Total Hardness. Students utilized hand-held instruments to collect results. The microbial analysis exclusively proceeded in the Tuba City research lab, where student interns process the wastewater effluents for IDEXX quantification, culture, and PCR as needed for characterization. One PhD. Student Christopher B. Yazzi from KORES laboratory, University of Arizona, remained instrumental in water testing and developing nano-filtration membranes at KORES lab., and then helped students learn the concept behind nanofiltration and construct filtration units.This work was an important part of his PhD thesis that was recently completed. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Continuing the previous year's trend in March and on November 08 of 2024 we held 02 more events of water testing fairs, at Tuba City locations that were mutually supported by our current USDA-NIFA wastewater reuse decision support grant and two other grants from NSF.Hakim and Litson were accompanied by community representatives who have accepted our request to be on our community advisory board.Here is a list of our Advisory Council members who agreed to remain active throughout grant life. 1)Jacques Seronde, Community Member priorretireof the Navajo Department of Agriculture Directorserondejq@gmail.com 2)Deanne Benally, Bureau of Indian Affair Natural Resource, Western Navajo Regiondeana.benally@bia.gov 3)Mae Franklin, Community Member retired from USDA Forestry with Kaibab National Forestatsamhf23@gmail.com 4)Durann Begay, tonanesdizi@navajochapters.org Executive Manager, Tuba City Chapter House 5) Daniel Williams, Grazing Committee Member, Tuba City Chapter House It is a common complaint from local chapter house members that researchers and scientists come to them to ask for resolution approvals and support, but once approval is granted nobody comes back to give them updates on what's going on. Our team has tried to break this impression, developing community-level trust and increasing mutual understanding of regional water quality issues. The project team did our chapterhouse presentations at Tuba City Chapterhouse (February and April 2021) and Chinle Chapterhouse (August 2021) to obtain support letters. Furthermore, we did a virtual presentation at the Tuba City Chapterhouse on July 07, 2022, an in-person presentation on September 07, 2023, and then most latest on September 25, 2024, to keep the community updated and aware of the progress of our work. Those presentations were very well appreciated. Currently, the Tuba City chapter house council and Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) are working on the Tuba City wastewater treatment plant extension program and they need some extra land for that project. They are trying to convince people of the importance of treatment plant expansion and they asked for a copy of our latest presentation to include in their report to the Navajo Nation President's Office. They find our progress report very useful to help their expansion plan. This is truly aligned with our main goal of decision support and we are hoping to help more in creating awareness on reuse of water to save natural water resources. Our team has been asked to present additional details in person, allowing local community members to perform basic field testing activities, leading to an understanding of procedures involved in the reclamation of wastewater and its usage.https://www.dinecollege.edu/about_dc/nifa-usda-tcrgp-internship/? A change in the level of understanding at the community level was significantly visiblefrom our first presentation in 2021 when our resolution support request for the wastewater effluent reuse decision support project was tabled first and then rejected with the majority of votes. In September 2022, it was 15 minutes in-person presentation instead of 05 minutes at the Tuba City chapter house followed by several questions and appreciative remarks from Chapterhouse officials and the audience. And now in September 2023, our progress report made the way to higher authorities within the Navajo Nation creating a path to more fruitful results. Our team developed an infographic sheet to share with the community to emphasize our wastewater reuse decision support work (a copy is attached), to educate local communities and help them understand the importance of water reuse, and how to mitigate coliforms mainly E. coli and other chemical and microbial contaminants from their water using basic precautions. Our efforts were also highlighted in The Aspen Institute report (2023) that says since 2020, Hakim has led a 10-week program to train students to become water scientists in their community. Later our efforts were also appreciated and highlighted by National Native News https://www.nativenews.net/friday-may-5-2023/ Scholarly peer-reviewed publications: there are two scholarly publications ready to go for peer-reviewed journals in the next 4 to 6 weeks. They will clearly mention the support received from this grant and the publications will be shared with the program officer and disseminated publically. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our primary goal was to identify and address potential technical and social impediments to the agricultural use of reclaimed wastewater. It addresses TCRGP priority area A9101, the "safe use of non-traditional water sources such as...recycled, and treated waters." We continue to make great strides related to our primary goal. As we reported in our previous two annual reports, the first year of the grant (2020-21) was highly impacted by the COVID pandemic and we were not able to work in the field collecting wastewater effluent and performing microbial and chemical analysis. That year we extensively focused on training student interns via a 10-week long online summer training program that was specifically designed for this grant to train local water scientists, we also did initial presentations to chapter houses at Tuba City and Chinle, Arizona to get approvals from chapter councils to start working on this very important project during 2020-2021 academic year. Both teams at Diné College and the University of Arizona Tucson campus developed their Action Plan, and we made a mutual effort to make our first cohort of water scientists trained in basic concepts of hydrology, wastewater treatment, and water analysis in a way that they can be motivated to work more in this area of research. We've included the infographics on first, second, and third-year progress, which includes an overview of the project plan, training, and outcome of the project during the last fouryears. The majority of participants (students) identified that the training increased their level of understanding of water scarcity, and the need to use alternative ways to fight water shortage, promoted their interest in strategies and practices for water reuse and increased their confidence in their understanding of the role of scientific methodologies in solving issues like water purification, water shortage, water reuse etc. Fewer increased their level of confidence in participating in an equitable classroom and research environment. Overall, throughout the world, there are multifaceted technical, regulatory, and social barriers to the use of reclaimed wastewater for agricultural irrigation. Within the Navajo Nation, these barriers become stronger because of the religious importance of water and its use in cultural ceremonies. For Navajos "Water is Life" and talking about wastewater reuse is improper. Through our central objective, we tried to emphasize more on increasing the level of understanding and bridging the gulf between the concept of reclaimed wastewater generation and its use for irrigation and other purposes. Surrounding our primary goal includes the development of a framework for collaboration with the community leaders and local men/ women, towards developing a community-level understanding so people should start listening to us, build mutual trust, and see how we can work together. During the second, third, and fourth years of the study i.e. 2021-2024, we expanded our work with a lot of fieldwork. We collected wastewater effluent from Tuba City and Chinle wastewater treatment plants seasonally to see the variation in analysis. We did presentations at Tuba City and Chinle Chapter houses, and then at the Navajo Western Agency Council which covers 12 chapters within the Navajo Nation to create awareness about the importance of water quality and usage and ways to reuse water and wastewater. We continued offering 10 weeks of summer internships in years 2022,2023, and 2024 where student participants also spent one week at the University of Arizona at KORES lab to understand the manufacturing and working of filtration unit and at the Arizona wastewater center in Tucson to learn methodologies used in microbial analysis. We anticipate submitting twomanuscripts resulting from this research in peer-reviewed journals in the next few weeks. The next phases of the project include developing supporting documents for the local Navajo government to help in their efforts to improve the infrastructure of current wastewater treatment plants that are still based on lagoons and continue to educate local communitieson the importance of expansion plans of current wastewater treatment plants that were built years ago and are not able to fulfill requirements of current population size. P.S.,The Tuba City chapter house and Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) are currently working on the Tuba City wastewater treatment expansion plan. The biggest hurdle in this plan is to convince the local communities and through our chapterhouse presentation during the last couple of months, we have seen a visible change in people's behavior. When we presented for the first time in April 2020 no one was ready to hear the word "wastewater" and our resolution was tabled twice. But, during the last fouryears biggest change is in the people's behavior, their acceptance level, and their willingness to hear about alternate ways to fight water scarcity and we feel this is a milestone for us. To this end, we are promoting (i) science-based practices that result in acceptable risk for reclaimed wastewater use in irrigation and finalizing our work on our nano-filtration unit to conduct (ii) feasibility analysis of reclaimed wastewater use for irrigation of edible crops--by correlating our microbial and chemical screening results before and after treatment of wastewater effluent conducted during 2022 and 2024and comparing these results with the produce grown in absence and presence of filtered wastewater effluent (targeted for 2024). (P.S. We did not useany human or animal subjects throughout our studies, and no ethnographic data or personally identifiable information wascollected at any stage of the study). While the focus is on the Navajo Nation, our approach and anticipated outcomes can be transferred to other tribal communities and elsewhere. We have set standards for regular crops in our test site and in February 2025 we will continue testing our two groups of crops with an on-site nanofiltration unit. The work was just the beginning. In the Navajo Nation, there is no current reclamation of municipal wastewater, even no discussion at public level. This grant wasthe first step for the Navajo Nation agencies and communities to start a water reuse discussion. This is not done yet, there is a lot to do. The students learned hands-on techniques for collection, sampling, and processing wastewater effluent, collecteddata, and carried out research driven by their hypotheses. They sharedtheir work at national and regional conferences during the last four years several times. Both the students and the team of principal investigators have been frequent presenters to the Tuba City and Chinle chapterhouses to keep them updated, and in total 26Dine College students were trained to become water scientists. Our nanofiltration membrane after multiple modifications now seems promising to help us remove both organic and inorganic chemicals along with the deactivation of microbial flora. Next, we will be comparing results with EPA and State of Arizona water reuse guidelines to find beneficial uses for treated wastewater. Community feedback is the hallmark of the current study. We have seen a visible change in thought process during the last four years and we will continue to create awareness among localcommunities on the importance of water reuse. Starting in spring 2025, we will more focus on the use of this filtered effluent water to identify which plants to grow with treated water., while, continuing with Navajo Nation Water Reuse Project plans to implement a pilot-scale MF-NF system in Tuba City. A detailed report of our accomplishments can be downloaded from our Project page on the Dine College website. The detailed report is attached here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1utDaBbDob8T8I0yZtEJb5NRC-3tn4uGt/view?usp=sharing
Publications
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Progress 12/01/22 to 11/30/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience (outreach): Navajo Communities/ Diné people mainly from Tuba City, Cameron, Keyanta, Tonalea, Shonto, Gap/Bodaway, Coalmine, Coppermine, Tsaile, Chinle, Manyfarms, Lukachukai, and nearby areas. We believe that each of our aims has helped support our primary goal.Community Members at Tuba City Center and Tsaile campus were involved via water testing eventsto increase awareness about the quality of water, and water testing(chemical and microbial testing) in March and August 2023. Faculty and Students: This was the third year of the grant, we have built a set of activities across the Navajo Nation that will promote our outcomes for undergraduates, graduates, faculty, staff, and researchers across Diné College and beyond.Students across our 6 campuses/ centers and microsites have already begun to benefit and move their STEM careers forward through the training provided via this project, and we continue to learn about their goals, struggles, and support needs. We look forward to the continued growth of our work that we started with financial support from USDA-NIFA. International and national community: 04 research posters and 01 rapid-fire talkwere presented during ASM-Microbe 2023 addressing audiences from the international and national community of scientists and researchers in person. Changes/Problems:Changes/Problems: Major problems or challenges are still there for example the topography of the Navajoland is characterized by arid deserts and alpine forests with high plateaus, mesas, and mountains reaching as high as 10,500 feet in altitude. And then, there are low desert regions with an altitude of as low as 5,500 feet. Volcanic activities, wind, and water erosions have formed and carved the Navajo Nation's many majestic mesas, mountains, and canyons. Navajoland boasts a number of world-renowned scenic wonders of the Southwest, e.g., Canyon de Chelly, Shiprock Peak, Monument Valley, Chuska Mountains, Window Rock, and so on (https://navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/locationMap2.htm) Lack of public transportation, dirt roads to reach the target locations, and differences in weather at different locations within the reservation, are natural facts that made it difficult for the team to continue with in-person activities at all locations. For example, the distance to travel between each of our campuses/centers within the Navajo Nation is approximately a 2-3 hour drive one way. With limited capabilities and use of virtual mediums, we were able to continue student internships and some outreach activities but actual experimental work started in year two and continued in year three. Due to some issues with nanofiltration membrane efficacy, we had to develop a new membrane that seems more active and now we are ready to do some field study in Tuba City starting spring 2024 while using pre and post-filtration effluent to grow some experimental plants and analysis for chemical and microbial burden. We will definitely need some supplementary funds to support student's salaries and buy supplies. The team at both locations (Diné College and the University of Arizona) is enthusiastically working to complete the tasks as much as possible within the grant period but we know this work needs to continue even after the completion of the grant's fourth year. Which is also important to continue the decision support mechanism at a higher level. The Nanofiltration membrane is being developed and the second round of wastewater effluent testing is done, retesting and field testing are planned for the fourth year starting in spring 2024. If the results are promising in spring 2024, then we will need to develop more units and place them at different locations to analyze their effectiveness depending upon the quality of wastewater effluent at those locations. Three batches of student interns have trained while the fourth group will be in the labs and field during 2024. Two papers are in the writing stage and hopefully will be submitted soon. Four research posters have been presented at different forums, and a couple more will be presented in 2024. A startup hoop house was installed at Diné College Tuba City location, we planted seeds for three seasonal crops using NTUA-regulated water during the 2022-2023 academic year. The crops did great including Spinach, Greens, Swiss chard, Peas, Fenugreek, and reddish. The first harvest of Fenugreek leaves was ready on November 14, 2022, with 0 microbial load. June's crop of spinach did not do well as it got infested with pests. We treated our raised beds with Neem tree oil spray. Early spring we will plant separately a set of experimental plants using nano-filtered wastewater effluent to check and compare the microbial load and see how our results can support our water reuse decision support project. We are also interested in the installation of a solar-based temperature control system in the hoop house to improve plantation conditions in the hoop house throughout the year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Our wastewater reuse decision support project has been fully developed and running for 3 years now: Dr. Hakim and Ms. Litson from Diné College have been coordinating and working with Drs. Vasiliki, Arnold, Gerba, and Chief at the University of Arizona, Tucson campus to deliver the training. The format is hybrid with guest speaker presentations, discussions, individual and group work, small group presentations, and professional development assignments reviewed in person each week. Students are recruited across three campuses of Diné College with the majority from Tuba City, AZ. They enjoyed the training program, particularly the guest speakers, sample collection (wastewater effluent), group work, and visits to the University of Arizona KORES lab and wastewater research center in Tucson, where they learned in-person manufacturing of filtration units and water analysis. They also collected samples from water beds in the wastewater center, in Tucson,and learned how different methodologies can help improve the quality of wastewater effluent before releasing it into the mainstream. Students also noted the course helped them feel more comfortable asking for help from advisors, professors, and employers. Learning that most people take a windy path to their ultimate career was noted by many as useful and unexpected. There was an increase in the number of students planning to pursue graduate school following the course. Year three (2023): Spring: Two researchStudents worked in Hakim's lab throughout spring 2023 to continue (i) basic field chemical analysis procedures and (ii) microbial analytical procedures for a variety of water samples collected from windmill wells, springs, streams, reservoirs, and household storage. The purpose was not only to understand differences in the quality of water based on source and other factors but also to see the role of wastewater seepage in surrounding soil and unregulated water resources. Along with the IDEXX Quanty tray Colilert System for coliforms and non-coliform bacteria in the third year, we also started to use the IDEXX Quanty tray system for pseudolert, legiolert, and enterolert while continuing to use API-20E system for Enterobacteriaceae, API anaerobic bacteria and API enterococci strips. We also got a few samples positive for H. pylori that were isolated on campy agar. The work completed till spring 2023 was presented during the American Society for Microbiology's ASM-Microbe 2023 held in Houston, Texas from June 15 to 19, 2023. A total of two staff (Hakim, and Neztsosie and five students (April, Maya, Matthew, Neilroy, and ToriFulton) represented the Diné College team during ASM-Microbe 2023 supported by this grant. Summer: A total of 5 summer interns were hired for 10-week internships during summer 2023. This was a more successful year than 2021 and 22 because students were fully engaged in in-person hands-on activities. They spend more time in the field and lab learning difficult skills including water sampling techniques both from the lagoon system here in Tuba City and then from water beds in the wastewater research center in Tucson, AZ. They continued to learn the successful use of multiple equipment for chemical and microbial analyses and soft skills through community presentations. Out of 10 weeks, summer interns spend 9 weeks at Diné College Tuba City center at Hakim's Lab and 1 week at the University of Arizona KORES Lab (Karanikola) and wastewater research center (Gerba's Lab) to observe and master skills in (i) advanced procedures for chemical and microbial analysis a wastewater and (ii) membrane filter design and operation. Furthermore, thesestudents from Dine College, Tuba City campus, assisted in the advanced treatment of the Tuba City wastewater effluent. Two students in the team had previously visited the KORES laboratory in the summer of 2022 and were previously trained in wastewater treatment processes, sample collection, and membrane characterization. This summer, they took a leading role in training the other three students. Ph.D. student Chris Yazzie administered additional training and supervision of the week's activities.Overall, a total of 30 live sessions; 6 guest presentations, and 5 student presentations were also accomplished during the 10-week summer internship.All 05 summer interns received a funded student membership with the American Society for Microbiology (@ a discounted rate of $30) to continue their interest in water microbiology and water science. Fall: As they were the last few months of the current grant and still a lot of work needs to be done particularly in the field use of nanofiltration units and growingexperimental plants to see the possibilityof use of Nano filtered water for irrigation, we decided to apply for a no-cost extension in this grant period for one year that was generously granted by USDA-NIFA-TCRGP. We hired one (1) student to continue work at Hakim's lab as a Research Assistant for the fall of 2023 to continue work in progress since 2021. We were able to collect effluent samples on July 21 from the Tuba City wastewater treatment plant and chemical analysis was done at the KORES lab at the University of Arizona. Microbial analysis for protozoa and bacteria was performed at Hakim's lab while for viruses, samples were processed at Dr. Gerba's lab at wastewater research center Tucson, AZ. Our interns and research assistants (all undergrad students) trained through our summer 10-week internship programs during a three-year period are now trained in basic water testing procedures for chemical and microbial analysis. They are getting better day by day with PCR and other molecular biology techniques to identify water and wastewater microbial isolates at a molecular level. We also tested water samples from nearby treatment facilities during summer to investigate correlations between water contamination and effluent seepage. We find out that the presence of E. coli is common in these nearby unregulated water resources and consumption of water from those unregulated resources could be dangerous for health. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Continuing the previous year's trend in March and August of 2023 we held 04 events of water testing fairs, two at Tuba City and two at Tsaile locations that were mutually supported by our current USDA-NIFA wastewater reuse decision support grant and two other grants from NSF.Hakim and Litson were accompanied by community representatives who have accepted our request to be on our community advisory board. Here is a list of our Advisory Council members who agreed to remain active throughout grant life. 1)Jacques Seronde, Community Member prior retire of the Navajo Department of Agriculture Directorserondejq@gmail.com 2)Deanne Benally, Bureau of Indian Affair Natural Resource, Western Navajo Regiondeana.benally@bia.gov 3)Mae Franklin, Community Member retired from USDA Forestry with Kaibab National Forestatsamhf23@gmail.com 4)Durann Begay, tonanesdizi@navajochapters.org Executive Manager, Tuba City Chapter House 5) Daniel Williams, Grazing Committee Member, Tuba City Chapter House It is a common complaint from local chapter house members that researchers and scientists come to them to ask for resolution approvals and support, but once approval is granted nobody comes back to give them updates on what's going on. Our team has tried to break this impression, developing community-level trust and increasing mutual understanding of regional water quality issues. The project team did our chapterhouse presentations at Tuba City Chapterhouse (February and April 2021) and Chinle Chapterhouse (August 2021) to obtain support letters. Furthermore, we did a virtual presentation at the Tuba City Chapterhouse on July 07, 2022, an in-person presentation on September 07, 2023, and then most the latest on September 25, 2023, to keep the community updated and aware of the progress of our work. Those presentations were very well appreciated. Currently, the Tuba City chapter house council and Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) are working on the Tuba City wastewater treatment plant extension program and they need some extra land for that project. They are trying to convince people of the importance of treatment plant expansion and they asked for a copy of our latest presentation to include in their report to the Navajo Nation President's Office. They find our progress report very useful to help their expansion plan. This is truly aligned with our main goal of decision support and we are hoping to help more in creating awareness on reuse of water in order to save natural water resources. Our team has been asked to present additional details in person, allowing local community members to perform basic field testing activities, leading to an understanding of procedures involved in the reclamation of wastewater and its usage. A change in the level of understanding at the community level was significantly different from our first presentation in 2021 when our resolution support request for the wastewater effluent reuse decision support project was tabled first and then rejected with the majority of votes. In September 2022, it was a 15-minute in-person presentation instead of 05 minutes at the Tuba City chapter house followed by a number of questions and appreciative remarks from Chapterhouse officials and the audience. And now in September 2023, our progress report made the way to higher authorities within the Navajo Nation creating a path to more fruitful results. Our team developed an infographic sheet to share with the community to emphasize our wastewater reuse decision support work (a copy is attached), to educate local communities and help them understand the importance of water reuse, and how to mitigate coliforms mainly E. coli and other chemical and microbial contaminants from their water using basic precautions. Our efforts were also highlighted in The Aspen Institute report (2023) that says since 2020, Hakim has led a 10-week program to train students to become water scientists in their community. Later our efforts were also appreciated and highlighted by National Native News https://www.nativenews.net/friday-may-5-2023/ What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?New directions, expansions, and search for more funding to continue the work and expand to other chapterhouses. Overall there are 110 chapterhouses and 05 wastewater treatment plants within the Navajo Nation. During the last three years, we were able to focus on two wastewater treatment plants only. Now we are focusing on including the other three plants in our analysis. Field testing of our Nano-filtration unit for filtration of wastewater effluent and use of that water for a set of experimental plants starting February 2024. Community outreach and the importance of water/wastewater effluent quality testing are scheduled for March 2024 in both Tsaile and Tuba City with an additional location Windowrock (capitol of Navajo Nation). Reflection on systemic changes (level of community's positive response) that have happened needed to be continued. When this project started there was no research setup at our Tuba City campus, but during the last three years with financial support from this USDA-NIFA-TCRGP and a few other grants The Tuba City campus has developed into a research-oriented center with BSL2-level facilities, the state of the art equipment and overall increase in the number of students with research interest. This grant played a vital role in the process of greatly expanding undergraduate research opportunities and supporting students from across campus in scholarly endeavors. Have more students (Navajo water scientists) trained in the next years? We anticipate that these efforts will shortly expand into the more advanced Graduate framework at Dine College. As of now, four of our previous participants have enrolled in our MS Biology program and working on their own community-based research projects, which is another success of our grant project. Spring crop plantation, while involving community members or students Depending upon the availability of funds, participation in ASM-Microbe 2024 and the Annual Arizona Water Reuse symposium in July 2024 in Flagstaff At least two Paper publications, after Navajo Nation IRB approval. Completion of outreach/community awareness video
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
?At Diné College:We continue to make great strides related to our primary goal & made efforts to train our water scientists. The majority of participantsidentified that the training increased their level of understanding, promoted their interest in strategies & practices for water reuse, & their confidence in understanding the role of scientific methodologies in solving issues like water purification, water shortage, & water reuse. There arebarriers to the use of reclaimed wastewater and within the Navajo Nation (NN), these barriers become stronger because of the religious importance of water & its use in cultural ceremonies. Surrounding our primary goal includes the development of a framework for collaboration with the community leaders to developa community-level understanding so people should start listening to us, building mutual trust, & seeing how we can work together. We did presentations at Tuba City (TC) & Chinle Chapter houses, & then at the Navajo Western Agency Council to create awareness about the importance of water quality& ways to reuse water. We continued offering summer internships in 2023.P.S.,The TCchapter house & Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) are currently working on the TCwastewater treatment plant's expansion plan. The biggest hurdle in this plan is to convince the local communities & through our presentation during the last couple of months, we have seen a visible change in people's behavior, their acceptance level, & their willingness to hear about alternate ways to fight water scarcity. We feel this is a milestone for us. Our Water testing event has become a routine. Our trained water scientists work with community members,guide them on how to test water for physical & chemical parameters, & process for microbial quality using IDEXX Quanty tray system. To date, a total of 24 students have benefited from the training provided under the current project. At Hakim's Lab.During 2023,Wastewater effluent samples from the Chinle wastewater treatment plant tested negative for protozoa; The Most Probable Number count (MPN) was not seen in the above 10-2dilutions in any of the samples, while the Coliform count came within 2 - 3 bacterial colonies/ 100 ml of effluent. The most prominent bacterial species wereSalmonella enteritica ser. Paratyphi-A &Algal count was 1+ Wastewater effluent from the TC facility was alsotested negative for pathogenic protozoa. MPN in 10-1dilutions was 95 colonies/ ml), 10-2dilutions (49 colonies/ ml), & the rest of the dilutions were within EPA acceptable limits. Coliform count using IDEXX was 17 large wells; 28 small wells; & 56.6 bacterial colonies/ 100ml with the most prominent bacterial speciesYersinia enterocolitica,Enterobacter cloacae,&Salmonella enteritica ser. Paratyphi-A. OverallAlgae was+++ At the University of Arizona:Measurements of emerging contaminants are in progress. It was necessary to purchase the standards & new columns for the LC-MS & GS-MS analyses. Since water samples were turbid, they were subjected to a pre-filtration step (ahead of bench scale Nanofiltration (NF)) in order to reduce the frequency of membrane cleaning/replacement. Construction of the required pre-filtration system is in progress, after which the effects of pre-filtration & NF treatment on trace organics, TDS, & specific metal concentrations will be determined.NF permeate samples will be tested for microbial contaminants, although none is expected to pass through functional NF membranes.A student from Dr. Karanikola's labhttps://kores.lab.arizona.edu/at the UAruns the waters through the pre-filter & then through the NF membrane & takes samples to see if it removes the organics of concern, TDS, & specific metals. The team will test subsamples of NF permeate for microbiological activity. Once the system is in place, personnel from Gerba's Lab. at the Water & Energy Sustainable Technology (WEST) Centerhttps://west.arizona.edu/research/overview will challenge the NF with the surrogate bacterial virus MS2 to determine the efficiency of virus removal. MS2 is commonly used to measure virus removal in filtration systems. Additional testing of the raw sewage & treated wastewater will take place at the beginning of next year. The testing of the raw sewage will provide data on the pathogen load & the needed reduction in pathogens for any treatment system. At KORES Lab.During 2023, the team atthe KORES lab worked on doing a feasibility study of using microfiltration & NFas a possible treatment of the secondary effluent for potential agricultural purposes.Approximately 30L of secondary wastewater effluent from the TC-NTUA wastewater facility was delivered to the KORES laboratory in UA. Water quality analytical tests were performed & consisted of pH measurements, total dissolved conductivity testing, anion, & cation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy Chromatography (IC) analysis, inorganic Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICPMS) analysis, & organic Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) analysis. Secondary wastewater effluent characterization:Trace organic analysis was conducted using an LCMS. Unfortunately, the analytical equipment experienced technical issues over the summer & into the fall, therefore, the results of "Trace organic water quality analysis using LCMS on TC'ssecondaryWastewater effluent"are incomplete & we are working on reanalyzing somesamples.Inorganic anions & cations quantification of the secondary wastewater effluent was performed using an IC.Ammonium, magnesium, and nitrite exceed at least one water quality standard; therefore treatment of secondary wastewater effluent is needed before usage. ?Advanced treatment of secondary wastewater effluent A laboratory-scale membrane water treatment system was used to assess if membrane treatment can sufficiently treat secondary wastewater effluent originating from the TC wastewatertreatment facility. The membranes used were NFpolyamide membranes that varied in "tightness" in terms of pores, with NF90 being the tightest, NF270 being the loosest, & NF245 having pores between the other two membranes. The raw wastewater effluent was pumped through a series of prefilters (microfiltration), with each sequential filter having a smaller size exclusion diameter (10, 5, 0.5 µm) to minimize fouling of the membranes. The flow rate of the feed was adjusted to keep the feed flow at 0.5 gallons/min(GPM). The system feed pressure was maintained.A sample of permeate water was collected & analyzed at selected time intervals.Water samples taken after the pre-treatment step (microfiltration) indicated that there was no conductivity decrease, however, we did observe a reduction in turbidity. This reduction of turbidity was critical to ensure that the NFmembrane would have a longer lifetime.Permeate data are not normalized yet, however, we attempted to understand the trend of permeate reduction over time & how the water production stabilizes after approximately one day of continuous operation. Contact angle measurements were taken in triplicate for membranes NF90, NF245, & NF270. Data compares the contact angle of a new membrane (baseline) to the same membrane that filtered secondary wastewater effluent for 168 hr. The NF245 & NF270 showed increased contact angle, indicating increased hydrophobicity. The increase in hydrophobicity could explain the reduction in permeate production for NF245 & NF270, as water is having a more challenging time diffusing to the surface of the membrane.Zeta potential measurements were done to comparemembranes & pre-& post-experiments membrane characteristics.All membranes showed a decline in zeta potential as pH increased.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
03 minutes rapid-fire talk and a poster presentation at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology ASM Microbe 2023 , (June 15 -19, 2023), held in Houston, Texas entitled "Water Quality Impact on the Rural Communities of Southwest" by Tori Fulton
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
A poster presentation at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology ASM Microbe 2023 , (June 15 -19, 2023), held in Houston, Texas entitled "Unregulated Water Resources a Threat to Human Health" by Maya Begay
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
A poster presentation at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology ASM Microbe 2023 , (June 15 -19, 2023), held in Houston, Texas entitled "Understanding the Potential Effects of Microbial Contamination on the Digestive Health of Navajo Communities" by Matthew Begay
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
A poster presentation at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology ASM Microbe 2023 , (June 15 -19, 2023), held in Houston, Texas entitled "How? Frequent Bacterial Analysis of local water resources can lead healthy communities" by April Begay
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Educational Aids or Curricula: The agenda for the summer internships 2021, 2022, and 2023 are available at our project website i.e.
https://www.dinecollege.edu/about_dc/nifa-usda-tcrgp-internship/
while upon the availability of supplementary funding we will offer another 10-week internship during the summer of 2024.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Community training via water testing events has become a regular feature every semester: scheduled for March 2024 and community response during these events is overwhelming
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Peer-reviewed Research Papers: in completion stage and will be submitted soon for publication
|
Progress 12/01/21 to 11/30/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Students and Faculty at Dine College, Tuba City center and Tsaile main campus via posteer presentations by student interns during meert & greet sessions. Community Members at Tuba Citty Center via water fair to increase awareness about quality of water, water testing (chemical and microbial testing) on March 25, 2022 Chapter House officials, council members and chapter house members of Tuba City, AZ and Chinle, AZ locations via zoom and in person presentations about importance of water quality, scarcity of water and possible ways of water reuse like wastewater effluent reclaimation. 95% of target audience were Navajo members of the communitty while, Poster presentations at "New Mexico water Conference" (virtually) and at "ASM-Microbe 2022" (in person) and at "Part IV of Land Grant University Series: FAS JPAC Event with Diné College, a 1994 LG Institution", organized by USDA (virtually) by our student interns and research Assistants who worked under this project reached broad audience outside the Navajo reservation. Changes/Problems:The topography of the Navajoland is characterized by arid deserts and alpine forests with high plateaus, mesas, and mountains reaching as high as 10,500 feet in altitude. And then, there are low desert regions with an altitude of as low as 5,500 feet. Volcanic activities, wind and water erosions have formed and carved the Navajo Nation's many majestic mesas, mountains and canyons. Navajoland boasts a number of world-renowned scenic wonders of the Southwest, e.g., Canyon de Chelly, Shiprock Peak, Monument Valley, Chuska Mountains, Window Rock, and so on (https://navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/locationMap2.htm) Lack of public transportation, dirt roads to reach the target locations, difference in weather at different locations within the reservation, and above all COVID pandemic made it difficult for the team to most of the in person activities in first year of grant, with limited capabilities and use of virtual mediums we were able to continue student internships and some outreach activities but actual experimental work started in year two. Receiving laboratory chemicals, reagents and testing kits here within reservation on time is a big challenge, sometimes we have to wait for months to get very simple and small things delivered in time of need. The team at both locations (Diné College and University of Arizona) is enthusiastically working to complete the tasks as much as possible within grant period but we know this work need to continue even after completion of grant's third year. The Nanofiltration membrane is being developed and first round of wastewater effluent testing is done, retesting and field testing is planned for third year. If the results are promising in spring 2023, then we will need to develop more units and place them at different locations to analyze their effectivity depending upon quality of wastewater effluent at those locations. Two batches of student interns have trained while third group will be in the labs and field during 2023. Two papers are under writing stage and hopefully will be submitted soon. Four research posters have been presented at different forums, and couple more will be presented in 2023. A startup hoop house have been installed at Diné College Tuba City location, we planted seeds for our first crop using NTUA regulated water in first week of October. Although temperature is getting cold but our crops (Spinach, Greens, Swiss chard, Pea, Fenugreek) are doing great. First harvest of Fenugreek leaves was ready on November 14, 2022 with 0 microbial load. Early spring we will plant separately a set of experimental plants using nano-filtered wastewater effluent to check and compare the microbial load and see how our results can support our water reuse decision support project. We are also interested in installation of solar based temperature control system in the hoop house to improve plantation conditions in the hoop house throughout the year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All team members (Hakim, Vasiliki, Litson, Arnold, Chief and Gerba) actively participated in summer internships (year 1 and 2) by sharing their expertise via both ZOOM and in-person presentations. Year one (2021): There were 04 Student Interns and 02 Research Assistants in fall 2021. Technical presentations and other forms of education were administered virtually due to COVID-related restrictions. A complete 10-week virtual internship consisted of 32 live sessions; 10 guest presentations and 5 student presentations. Student presentations were based on their own proposals related to water and wastewater treatment and reclamation within the Navajo communities. Dr. Hakim also provided a virtual poster presentation at the 66th New Mexico Water Conference during 26-28 October 2021 entitled, "Long-term drying trends in the American Southwest; opportunities for water reuse in Navajo agriculture". Year two (2022): Spring: Spring: One Research Student worked in Hakim's lab throughout spring 2022 to learn (i) basic field chemical analysis procedures and (ii) microbial analytical procedures for a variety of water samples collected from windmill wells, springs, streams, reservoirs and household storage. The purpose was to understand differences in the qualities of waters based on source and other factors. She was trained using IDEXX Quanty tray Colilert System for coliforms and non-coliform bacteria and API-20E system for enterobacteriaceae. Her work was selected for presentation during American Society for Microbiology's ASM-Microbe 2022 held at Washington DC during June 15 to 19, 2022. She was the first ever Diné College participant at an ASM meeting and received an ASM Student Travel Award ($1000 + free conference registration) for her poster presentation. A total of three staff (Hakim, Litson and Begay) and two students (Fulton and Leslie) represented the Diné College team during ASM-Microbe 2022 supported by this grant. Summer: A total of 5 summer interns were hired for 10-week internships during summer 2022. This was more successful than in fall 2021, because students were engaged in both in-person and virtual activities. They spend more time in the field and lab learning difficult skills including water sampling techniques, chemical and microbial analyses and soft skills through community presentations. Out of 10 weeks, summer interns spend 9 weeks at Diné College Tuba City center at Hakim's Lab and 1 week at the University of Arizona KORES Lab (Karanikola) and wastewater treatment center (Gerba's Lab) to observe and master (i) advanced procedures for chemical and microbial analysis a wastewater and (ii) membrane filter design and operation. Overall, a total of 30 live sessions; 6 guest presentations and 6 student presentations were accomplished during the 10-week summer internship. All 05 summer interns received a funded student membership with American Society for Microbiology (@ a discounted rate of $30) to continue their interest in the water microbiology and water science. Fall: Two (2) students have been hired at Hakim's lab as Research Assistants for the fall 2022 to continue work in progress since spring 2022. A second wastewater sample collection was carried out on October 3, 2022. Due to record monsoon rain and flooding in some parts of Navajo Nation, we were not able to collect the water sample during summer. Both interns who were part of our summer internship program, are now trained in basic water testing procedures for chemical and microbial analysis. They are now getting hands on PCR and other molecular biology techniques to identify water and wastewater microbial isolates at a molecular level. We also tested water samples from nearby treatment facilities during summer to investigate correlations between water contamination and effluent seepage. The two fall student interns submitted abstracts for poster presentations at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) held during November 09-12 at Anaheim, California. These students were the first ever participants at ABRCMS from Diné College. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?On March 25th, 2022, we had a citizen science water fair at our Tuba City location that was mutually supported by our USDA decision support grant and two other grants from NSF. Hakim and Litson were accompanied by community representatives who have accepted our request to be on our community advisory board. Here is a list of the Advisory Council members who agreed to be active. 1)Jacques Seronde, Community Member prior retire of the Navajo Department of Agriculture Directorserondejq@gmail.com 2)Deanne Benally, Bureau of Indian Affair Natural Resource, Western Navajo Regiondeana.benally@bia.gov 3)Mae Franklin, Community Member retired from USDA Forestry with Kaibab National Forestatsamhf23@gmail.com 4)Daniel Williams928-614-8493, Tuba City Grazing Official 5)Durann Begay, tonanesdizi@navajochapters.org Executive Manager, Tuba City Chapter House 6) Daniel Williams, Grazing Committee Member, Tuba City Chapter House It is a common complaint from local chapter house members that researchers and scientists come to them to ask for resolution approvals and support, but once approval is granted nobody comes back to give them updates on what's going on. Our team will break this impression, developing a community level trust and increasing mutual understanding of regional water quality issues. The project team did our chapterhouse presentations at Tuba City Chapterhouse (February and April, 2021) and Chinle Chapterhouse (August 2021) to obtain support letters. We are now taking a second step, making a virtual presentation at Tuba City Chapterhouse on July 07, 2022, y and an in-person presentation on September 07 to maintain the community awareness of the progress of our work. Both presentations were very well appreciated, and our team has been asked to present additional details in person, allowing local community members to perform basic field testing activities, leading to an understanding of procedures involved in reclamation of wastewater and its usage. We are planning this activity for spring 2023. A change in the level of understanding at community level was significantly different from our first presentation in February 2021.In Feb., 2021 our resolution support request for wastewater effluent reuse decision support project was tabled first and then rejected with majority of votes. While in September 2022, it was a 15 minutes in person presentation instead of 05 minutes at Tuba City chapter house followed by number of questions and appreciative remarks from Chapterhouse officials and audience. Research posters were presented during an event organized by our Land Grant Office at Diné College main campus at Tsaile, Arizona, in which our summer interns shared their work with participants. The event was well attended by the students, faculty and staff from Tsaile campus along with representatives from University of Arizona and New Mexico State University. The students traveled from Tuba City campus to Tsaile campus with Dr. Hakim to present and share their work. On August 26 a meet-and-greet activity was organized by Dr. Hakim in collaboration with Tuba City Director Ms. Phyllis Begay, Land Grant Office Director Ms. Benita Litson and Bryan Neztsosie, who joined the event from Land Grant Department, Tsaile campus. We set up outreach booths for discussions of (i) chemical and microbial analysis of water and wastewater, (ii) why it is necessary to understand the quality of water, and (iii) how we can contribute to solve issues regarding water scarcity within Navajo communities. The event was well attended by the staff and representatives from Tuba City chapter house, Tuba City Regional Healthcare Corporation, Tuba City high School, Greyhills high School, Navajo Technical Utility Authority (NTUA), Water resource department, and Navajo Nation workforce department. On September 09, Dr. Hakim, Ms. Litson and student interns participated in "Part IV of Land Grant University Series: FAS JPAC Event with Diné College, a 1994 LG Institution", organized by USDA virtually to present what our student interns are learning through this opportunity. https://www.dinecollege.edu/about_dc/nifa-usda-tcrgp-internship/ The group is developing a small video to highlight the need and efforts of the group related to water purification, quality analysis and reuse. The video will be shown at chapterhouse meetings. Also, a brochure is ready another is in preparation to educate local communities and help them understand the importance of water reuse, and how to mitigate coliforms mainly E. coli and other chemical and microbial contaminants from their water using basic precautions. Both the video and brochure will be vetted for approval from Navajo Nation IRB if needed. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? There are multiple tasks we are focusing on for the next reporting period. Field testing of our Nano-filtration unit for filtration of wastewater effluent and use of that water for a set of test plants. Community outreach, importance of water/wastewater effluent quality testing scheduled for March 24 (Tsaile) and March 31 (Tuba City) Have six more students (Navajo water scientists) trained next year Spring crop plantation, while involving community members or K12 students Participation in ASM-Microbe 2023 and Annual Arizona Water Reuse symposium in July, 2023 in Flagstaff At least two Paper publications, after Navajo Nation IRB approval. Completion of outreach / community awareness video Target Audience (outreach): Navajo Communities/ Diné people mainly from Tuba City, Cameron, Keyanta, Tonalea, Shonto, Gap/Bodaway, Coalmine, Coppermine, Tsaile, Chinle, Manyfarms, Lukachukai, and nearby areas. Products: Brochure: one ready, few more will be developed Videos: can be seen at https://www.dinecollege.edu/about_dc/nifa-usda-tcrgp-internship/ Research Posters: presented at water conference, NM; ASM-Microbe 2022, ABRCMS 2022 will continue at other forums during third year Research Papers: in process Community trainings via water fairs: one held on March 25, 2022 more scheduled for March 24 and 26, 2023
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
COVID-related restrictions had a chilling effect on grant activities during year one of the grant. The second year was decidedly more productive. At Diné College: March 25, 2022, under outreach efforts, local community members from Tuba City and surroundings were invited to bring non-NTUA water samples representing waters routinely used for potable purposes. These were tested for coliforms, non-coliform, and chemical contaminants. Student interns with team members, assisted community members with various physical/chemical parameters that included pH, Electro-conductivity, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids, Total Chlorine, Fluoride, Iron, Ammonia, Phosphates and Total Hardness. A total of 33 individuals brought water samples from non-NTUA (Navajo Technical Utilities Authority) water sources including wind mill wells, springs, reservoirs, etc. For microbial testing they used the IDEXX colilert Quanty tray system for measurement of coliform and non-coliforms. Based on the community responses and results from the March 25 event and presentations at Tuba City and Chinle Chapterhouses, we are focusing on development of pamphlets and short videos to illustrate means for mitigating contaminants including coliforms (particularly E. coli), other germs, and hazardous chemicals in water. Community members, ranchers, and farmers were encouraged to actively engage in the process. SAMPLE COLLECTION: On March 11 (Tuba City WWTP), March 18 (Chinle WWTP), and September 28, 2022. Initial wastewater effluent samples were collected at Chinle and Tuba City locations in March. There was a second effluent collection at the Tuba City wastewater plant in September, and a third is scheduled for the second week of December. Sarah Abney (Gerba's lab), Bryan Neztsosie (DC-LGO), Tori Fulton (DC-Hakim's lab) and Shazia Hakim collected the samples from both locations with help from NTUA staff. Dr. Hakim completed primary screening activities at Tuba City. A second set of samples was collected by April Begay, Matthew Begay and Dr. Hakim. The major physical difference between samples from the two locations was the amount of algal growth, which was very high in Tuba City samples. The analysis remains in progress, and a third sample collection is anticipated during the second week of December. Some of our results are shown below: At Hakim's Lab. Initial wastewater effluent sample from Chinle wastewater treatment plant was tested for Protozoa by wet mount microscopy= Nil; MPN for colony count = 10-1 dilution (1colony/ml), 10-2 to 10-10 dilutions (0 colonies/ml); Coliform count using IDEXX = 1 large well; 1 small well; 2.0 bacterial colonies/ 100 ml; Most prominent bacterial species by API 20 E & API anaerobe = 99.5% Salmonella enteritica ser. Paratyphi A; Algae = Nil Initial wastewater effluent sample from Tuba City wastewater treatment plant was tested for Protozoa by wet mount microscopy performed from sediments prepared after concentrating 10 liters of wastewater effluent samples = Nil; MPN for colony count = 10-1 dilution (114 colonies/ ml), 10-2 dilution (30 colonies/ ml), 10-3 to 10-10 dilutions (0 colonies/ ml); Coliform count using IDEXX = 47 large wells; 48 small wells; 691.0 bacterial colonies/ 100ml; Most prominent bacterial species by API 20 E & API anaerobe = 98.7% Yersinia enterocolitica; 0.9% Enterobacter asburiae; Algae = +++ Second wastewater effluent sample from Tuba City wastewater treatment plant was tested for Protozoa by wet mount microscopy performed from sediments prepared after concentrating 10 liters of wastewater effluent samples = Nil; MPN for colony count = 10-1 dilution (156 colonies/ml), 10-2 dilution (15 colonies/ml), 10-3 dilution (7 colonies/ml), 10-5 dilution (1 colony/ml), 10-6 to 10-10 dilutions (0 colonies/ml); Coliform count using IDEXX = 49 Large wells; 48 Small wells; 2419.6 bacterial colonies/ 100 ml; Most prominent bacterial species by API 20 E & API anaerobe were E. coli1 (17%), Enterobacter cloacae (13%), Erwinia species (18%), Serratia fanticola (18%) and others (34%); Algae = +++ A total of 50 water samples from un-regulated resources in the region nearby Tuba City wastewater treatment plant were also collected and tested for chemical and microbial contaminants to develop a correlation between seepage of wastewater or wastewater effluent into the soil of surrounding areas and contamination level of these unregulated water resources. At University of Arizona: Measurements of emerging contaminants are in progress. It was necessary to purchase the standards and new columns for the LC-MS and GS-MS analyses. Since water samples were turbid, they were subjected to a pre-filtration step (ahead of bench scale Nanofiltration (NF)) in order to reduce the frequency of membrane cleaning/replacement. Construction of the required pre-filtration system is in progress, after which the effects of pre-filtration and NF treatment on trace organics, TDS and specific metals concentrations is being determined. NF permeate samples are being tested for microbial contaminants, although none is expected to pass through functional NF membranes. A student from Dr. Karanikola's lab https://kores.lab.arizona.edu/ at the University of Arizona runs the waters through the pre-filter and then through the NF membrane and take samples to see if it removes the organics of concern, TDS, and specific metals. The team will test subsamples of NF permeate for microbiological activity. Once the system is in place, personnel from Gerba's Lab. at the Water & Energy Sustainable Technology (WEST) Center https://west.arizona.edu/research/overview will challenge the NF with the surrogate bacterial virus MS2 to determine the efficiency of virus removal. MS2 is commonly used to measure virus removal in filtration systems. Additional testing of the raw sewage and treated wastewater will take place at the beginning of next year. The testing of the raw sewage will provide data on the pathogen load and the needed reduction in pathogens for any treatment system. Usually, a 6-7 log reduction from the raw sewage to point of discharge is recommended for use of wastewater for irrigation of crops to be consumed raw. AT KORES LAb: Water quality analysis was compared to the maximum contaminant limits (MCLs). MCLs were separated to enforceable, non- enforceable, or recommended for drinking or other water reuse purposes such as irrigation. Water pretreatment and NF bench scale system configuration: A laboratory-scale water treatment system was used to assess if membrane treatment can sufficiently treat secondary wastewater effluent from Tuba City and Chinle. The membranes used were nanofiltration polyamide membranes that varied in "tightness" with NF90 being the tightest and NF270 being the loosest.Before the membrane treatment, the raw wastewater effluent was pumped through a series of prefilters (microfiltration), with each sequential filter having a smaller size exclusion diameter (10, 5, 1 micrometer) to minimize fouling of the membranes.A sample of permeate water was collected and analyzed at selected time intervals of 1 hour, 4 hours, and 24 hours. Water Production and TDS rejection: We compare the performance of three nanofiltration (NF) membranes: NF90, NF245, and NF270. Tests were performed under identical conditions, which included 0.5 GPM flowrates through separate membrane modules, with a constant 75 psi feed pressure and at 20 degrees Celsius. Initial conductivities of raw secondary wastewater effluent measured by conductivity meter were Tuba City 802 µS/cm and Chinle 1473 µS/cm. The performance of three nanofiltration (NF) membranes NF90, NF245, and NF270 is being done with an expected in-depth analysis in the future with focus on cation and anion rejection,inorganic contaminants that exceeded an MCL in the influent, contaminant's concentrationthe and the effect of wastewater effluent treatment on NF membrane surface charges.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Poster presentation at the 66th New Mexico Water Conference during 26-28 October, 2021 (virtual) entitled, Long-term drying trends in the American Southwest; opportunities for water reuse in Navajo agriculture.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
03 minutes rapid fire talk and a poster presentation at General Meeting of American Society for Microbiology ASM Microbe 2022 , (June 10, 2022), held at Washington DC ., entitled How Quality of Water Impacting the Remote Communities and Their Health .
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Poster presentation at annual Meeting of American Society for Microbiology for minoritized communities ABRCMS- 2022 , (November, 2022), held in Anaheim, California, entitled Bacterial contaminants in water resource: a possible source of Gastric Disorders .
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Poster presentation at annual Meeting of American Society for Microbiology for minoritized communities ABRCMS-2022 , (November, 2022), held in Anaheim, California, entitled Understanding the Possible role of Microbial Contamination in Digestive Health of Navajo Communities .
|
Progress 12/01/20 to 11/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The public announcement of our grant reached affected populations via the Navajo Times, University of Arizona media cell, Dine' College media cell, and College post in order to (i) make local communities, and particularly the Navajo community, aware of project objectives and opportunities and (ii) develop an understanding of potential project benefits. Some of the websites where the info was shared can be reached via the following links: https://news.arizona.edu/story/uarizona-din%C3%A9-college-train-next-generation-navajo-water-scientists https://thecollegepost.com/two-arizona-schools-navajo-water-scientists/ https://navajotimes.com/edu/uarizona-dine-college-to-train-next-generation-of-navajo-water-scientists/ https://www.dinecollege.edu/news-release-uarizona-dine-college-to-train-next-generation-of-navajo-water-scientists/ Related presentations were made at the Tuba City and Chinle Chapter Houses to create public awareness of proposed work and generate support among the communities served. In the process, we obtained critical chapter resolutions necessary to proceed with project-related work. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first year of our grant, many adaptations were required to convert to the virtual model of technical instruction. It is anticipated that the formal materials developed will be useful as visual aids for the upcoming face-to-face presentations over the duration of the grant and beyond. Changes/Problems:No major changes, only a little delay in the year-1 schedule due to COVID-related restrictions. We offered paid internships in the fall virtually, instead of summer in-person internship that was proposed originally. We had to do this because Navajo Nation is still in the "Orange category" for COVID-19 What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A 10-week fall training/ Internship program in wastewater effluent reclamation was offered from August 26 to November 5, 2021. The program was delivered remotely via Zoom by the Diné College and the University of Arizona, with lectures & training from a multidisciplinary team of leaders from academia, and industry. We announced 06 research intern positions. Initially, 04 students were enrolled, one dropped out after two weeks due to some personal issues,while the remaining three completed their internship successfully. https://www.dinecollege.edu/about_dc/nifa-usda-tcrgp-internship/#Internship-About Two research assistants were also hired during fall 2021 and will serve in that capacity from August 26th until November 27th. Both were active in the Dine College (Tuba City campus) laboratory's initial setup for project-related microbiological experimentation. In addition, at the University of Arizona, one graduate student and research technician worked on the first budget period of the program. The second-year Ph.D. student worked on developing (i) presentations for the internship program and (ii) lists of contaminants of emerging concerns to be tested and (iii) analytical chemistry methods for the upcoming water sampling and testing. The research technician worked developing a bench-scale nanofiltration system that will be used for bench-scale experimentation on examining best practices of pre-filtration and membrane process for removal of trace organic contaminants and contaminants of emerging concern from secondary effluent from the Tuba City wastewater reclamation facility. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?To introduce our project to the researchers, academia, and communities of interest, the team presented their first research poster at 66th New Mexico Water Conference on October 28th, 2021, entitled "Long-term drying trends in the American Southwest; opportunities for water reuse in Navajo agriculture".The work was well received by a broad audience and resulted in connections with research groups at New Mexico State University, who are likely to be future collaborators. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will begin sample collections from Tuba city and Chinle wastewater treatment plants in January 2022. These will be subjected to microbial and chemical analysis--primarily pathogens and trace organic contaminants and contaminants of emerging concern. Our summer internship program will begin recruiting in March 2022, while the team is working to identify and build appropriate nanofiltration membranes systems for field deployment in late summer or early fall 2022. During the second budget period, we will be testing the secondary effluent on our bench scale nanofiltration at the University of Arizona to ensure that we find the optimal pre-filtration and membrane to treat the water. We will also start construction on a nanofiltration pilot system that will be deployed at the Dine College on Budget period 3 for education and training purposes on polishing secondary effluent for potential water reuse at the Navajo Nation.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Navajo Nation is still in the orange zone for COVID-19. Due to preventive and precautionary measures, we mutually agreed to offer our first paid internship virtually to a group of 03 students, during fall 2021. Two research students were also hired during fall 2021 for a 13 week period to accompany the interns and help set up new laboratory space at our DC, Tuba City campus that will be the main location for Dine College experimentation part starting January 2022.
Publications
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