Personnel
Brandy Toner, Professor, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Brandy Stewart, Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Project Description
Problem: Industrial stormwater can require expensive treatment to remove environmentally hazardous materials including heavy metal contaminants. Businesses continually look for cheaper and more efficient treatment products to meet their needs.
Solution: Peat-based systems surpassed initial expectations, especially in removing chromium from stormwater. Yet, we know little about why peat is so effective. We are analyzing the microbial communities and chemical state of chromium in peat filtration systems operating at Diamond Chrome Plating’s Michigan facility.
Impact: Identifying the role of microbial communities within peat-based filters may help optimize new microbe-based filtration systems. High efficiency, low-cost, and low-maintenance filtration systems targeting chromium and other heavy metals would be valuable across Minnesota given the abundance of heavy metal contaminated waterways throughout the state.
Learn more at mndrive.umn.edu/environment