Research

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Measuring what water does to radicals

Radical scavenging capacity

Every model of an advanced oxidation process depends on knowing how quickly a given water consumes hydroxyl radicals. Measuring that rate is slow, and the numbers do not always reproduce. We are optimizing a real-time instrument to overcome both problems, and using it to examine how hydroxyl radicals interact with natural organic matter.

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Exploring what radicals do to micropollutants

Advanced oxidation

We apply both established and emerging treatment processes to generate strong oxidants such as hydroxyl radicals, and use them to break micropollutants apart. Simulation tools let us predict how far a compound degrades under realistic water conditions. Oxidation solves one problem and can create another, so we also study what forms during treatment and what remains afterward.

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Watching water in real time

Water quality monitoring

We are building instruments that measure water quality continuously and report it in real time. These are going into Manitoba waters — the Red River, the Upper Nelson River, and Lake Winnipeg — to map water quality at high resolution and identify pollutant hotspots.

Follow the Nelson River project →

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Why reactions go where they go

UV photochemistry

We study how organic compounds absorb ultraviolet light, where radicals attack a given structure, and what the fragments become. Knowing why a process works is what lets you predict when it won't.