BE- MUSES: Towards Sustainable Materials for Drinking Water Infrastructure

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

This collaborative Biocomplexity in the Environment Materials Use: Science, Engineering and Society (MUSES) project addresses research issues associated with sustainable materials for drinking water. In the United States, the declining public infrastructure loses 10-32% of potable water resource to holes formed by corrosion, and the cost to simply repair and replace degraded pipes is estimated at $22 billion per year for the public (utility) infrastructure and nearly twice that for private (residential, commercial, school) infrastructures. Leakage and changes in water quality can occur in copper and plastic plumbing systems. This investigation is driven in part by observations of corrosion and pinhole leakage in copper water systems due to reduced natural organic matter in the water, an unintended consequence of emerging water quality requirements that is proving a fruitful focus for technical research with high social impact. This interdisciplinary study of materials use in drinking water infrastructure brings together researchers and students from seven disciplines: economics, food and sensory science, community health, civil engineering, environmental engineering, microbiology, and materials engineering. Because all problems with materials use in drinking water infrastructure are inextricably interwoven, three phases of work will be conducted on the basis of organizational necessity including: (1) biochemistry of materials degradation and water quality; (2) aesthetics and analytical chemistry of corroded materials; and (3) economics, health and perception in consumer decision-making. This project will establish the degradation of systems from the macro to the micros level of study, integrating between materials use and human needs / perceptions in a rigorous fashion through the modeling of economic decision-making that is tied to the experimental investigation of corrosion and taste testing, as well as the analytical models of consumer preference. International collaborations with South Korea and Brazil, and the involvement with USEPA, Washington Suburban Sanitation council, US Army, US Department of Human and Heath Services, and several consumer groups will provide methods of disseminating the research and educating the public to the broader significance of maintaining a sustainable potable water infrastructure