Innovation for water and wastewater treatment in cold regions.
The Cold-Region Water Resource Recovery Laboratory (CRWRRL) is equipped with state-of-the-art and more conventional research instrumentation for water related and broader environmental engineering studies. The research team is developing future-ready water and wastewater treatment and reuse technologies in the context of climate change. They characterize the chemical compositions of water matrices as well as certain solid substrate to decipher the complex physicochemical and biological phenomena in engineered and natural environments. They apply circular economy principles in our research to help society enhance our environmental stewardship, promote economy growth, protect public wellbeing, and achieve sustainable development. Technologies used include membrane technology, adsorption, bioreactor, advanced oxidation, and ion exchange.
- Fingerprint water samples with conventional parameters, such as organic carbon concentration, nitrogen concentration, and phosphorus concentration.
- Measurements of emerging pollutants in water samples, such as microplastics and hydrocarbons.
- Understand the chemical properties of liquid and solid samples.
- Agriculture, animal science and food
- Clean technology
- Energy
- Environmental technologies and related services
Specialized labs and equipment
| Equipment | Function |
|---|---|
| Thermo Scientific™ Nicolet™ iS50 FTIR Spectrometer | Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A fast, easy and reliable technique for material identification. |
| Thermo Scientific™ Nicolet™ RaptIR FTIR Microscope | Generating high-quality, high-resolution spectra of sample with visual spatial resolution of 1 micron and infrared spatial resolution of 5 microns. Accurate microplastic quantitation. |
| DeNovix DS-11 FX+ UV-Vis Spectrophotometer/Fluorometer | Lower detection limits of 0.5-1.0 uL. Wavelength range: 190-840 nm. UV-Vis sample analysis. Fast nucleic acid, protein, and fluorescence quantification. |
| NBD M1500-22IT Programmable Sintering Muffle Furnace | Max. operating temperature = 1,500℃. 15 sintering curves can be pre-stored. Over-temperature alarm and real-time sintering data. |
| Pilot-scale MBR system (custom-built) | Membrane Bioreactor (MBR). Combines a microfiltration, ultrafiltration, or other types of membrane unit with a suspended growth bioreactor. Real-time pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and temperature detector with a touch screen. |
| Donghua DH7003 Bipotentiostat | Dual Channel. Applied voltage range: ±10V. Applied current range: ±1A. |
| Thorlabs Ganymede™ Series SD-OCT system | Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). 2D cross-sectional and 3D volumetric images of a sample. |
| Malvern Panalytical Zetasizer Lab Advance Range | Enable to define particle size, particle charge (zeta potential), and molecular weight. |
| HACH DRB200 thermostat | Heating blocks enable cuvettes and reaction vessels to be digested at identical or different temperatures and time settings. |
| DR3900 Benchtop VIS Spectrophotometer | Daily routine of water analysis. Control-parameters like Ammonium, COD (chemical oxygen demand), Phosphate, Nitrogen and many other tests. |
| Ozone generator | Dissolving ozone into water and immediately starts oxidizing and eliminating contaminants. |
| Two-pass high pressure membrane filtration system | For research on membrane separation of liquid matrices using nanofiltration or reverse osmosis. |
Private and public sector research partners
- Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation (BPWTC)
- City of Regina
- Regina Airport Authority
- Touchstone Enterprise Ltd.
Additional information
| Title | URL |
|---|---|
| Transforming sludge: A University of Regina researcher is helping to transform wastewater sludge into useful and environmentally friendly products. | https://www.discoursemagazine.ca/transforming-sludge/2023/07/28 |
| Going with the flow. | https://genaction.ca/en/science-spotlight/101 |