WATER-SUPPLY SHORTAGES AND NUTRIENT POLLUTION ARE TWO PRIMARY CONCERNS FOR U.S. AGRICULTURE. AS WATER SCARCITY INCREASES, NON-TRADITIONAL WATER IS BECOMING AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT WATER RESOURCE FOR CROP IRRIGATION. FOR MANY RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE U.S., LAGOON-BASED SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS (STPS) ARE USUALLY USED TO TREAT DOMESTIC WASTEWATER. COMPARED TO MUNICIPAL STPS, THE RURAL STPS ARE TYPICALLY LESS EFFECTIVE AT NUTRIENT REMOVAL. USING EFFLUENTS FROM RURAL STPS TO IRRIGATE NEARBY FIELDS WOULD BE A WIN-WIN STRATEGY TO APPLY VALUABLE NUTRIENTS, AUGMENT AVAILABLE WATER SOURCES FOR AGRICULTURE, AND REDUCE THE NEGATIVE EFFECT ON WATER QUALITY FROM THE EFFLUENT DIRECTLY DISCHARGINGINTO THE SURROUNDING WATERSHEDS. HOWEVER, LAGOON EFFLUENTS ALSO CONTAIN MANY CHEMICALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN (CECS), INCLUDING PHARMACEUTICALS AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS (PPCPS), WHICH MAY POSE A RISK TO THE RECEIVING AGRICULTURAL LANDS, ECOSYSTEMS, AND FOOD CHAINS. MANY AGRICULTURAL FIELDS IN THE MIDWESTERN U.S.IN PARTICULARARE TILE-DRAINED, WHICH CAN EXPEDITE THE TRANSPORT OF CECS FROM LAND-APPLIED RURAL SEWAGE EFFLUENTS TO NEARBY WATERSHEDS. AT PRESENT, THE POTENTIAL NEGATIVE EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH PPCP LOADS TO TILE-DRAINED FIELDS BY RURAL EFFLUENT IRRIGATION ARE ESSENTIALLY UNKNOWN. IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL CONDUCT A SERIES OF LABORATORY, FIELD, AND NUMERICAL MODELING STUDIES TO ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES AFFECTING THE FATE AND TRANSPORT OF PPCP CONTAMINANTS DERIVED FROM THE AGRICTURAL IRRIGATION OF RURAL EFFLUENT. WE WILL MONITOR AND MODEL THEIR OCCURRENCE IN SUBSURFACE TILE-DRAINED FIELDS IRRIGATED WITH RURAL SEWAGE EFFLUENTS AND BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN LABORATORY FINDINGS AND FIELD OBSERVATIONS. IN ADDITION, WE WILL DEVELOP TWO INNOVATIVE TREATMENT TECHNIQUES (OIL CAPTURE AND BIOCHAR-SORPTION-CHANNELS) TO REMOVE HYDROPHOBIC PPCPS AND THEREBY MINIMIZE CEC LOADING FROM RURAL SEWAGE EFFLUENT INTO THE WATERSHEDS. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE FATE AND TRANSPORT OF EFFLUENT-ASSOCIATED PPCPS AND DIMINISH THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF RURAL SEWAGE USE AS IRRIGATION WATER, THUS INCREASING U.S. WATER AND FOOD SECURITY.