** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** WASTEWATER RECLAMATION AND NUTRIENT RECOVERY FOR CROP IRRIGATION REDUCE THE DEPENDENCE ON FRESHWATER AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS AND ULTIMATELY SUPPORT LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SUSTAINABILITY OF U.S. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEM. HOWEVER, THIS CRITICAL STRATEGY INVOLVES SUBSTANTIAL RISKS FROM EMERGING ORGANIC AND MICROBIAL CONTAMINANTS REMAINING IN THE RECYCLED WATER. THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A NOVEL HYBRID ELECTRODIALYSIS (ED) - FORWARD OSMOSIS (FO) PROCESS FOR SAFE PRODUCTION OF FOOD CROPS THROUGH CONCURRENT RECOVERY OF NUTRIENTS AND CLEAN WATER FROM LIQUID DIGESTATE. THE PROPOSED ED-FO SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE AN EFFICIENT WAY TO MAINTAIN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AT LESS ENVIRONMENTAL COST. WE WILL CARRY OUT COMPREHENSIVE EXPERIMENTS TO (1) INVESTIGATE THE TREATMENT EFFICACY OF THE ED-FO SYSTEM AND OPTIMIZE THE OPERATING PARAMETERS TO PROVE SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS; (2) STUDY THE FATE AND TRANSPORT OF NUTRIENT IONS AND EMERGING CONTAMINANTS (ANTIBIOTICS AND ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANCE GENES) DURING THE ED-FO TREATMENT AND CROP PRODUCTION; (3) DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF RECOVERED NUTRIENT WATER ON PLANT HEALTH, PRODUCTIVITY, AND NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF PRODUCE; AND (4) EVALUATE THE ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF THE INTEGRATED ED-FO PROCESS. THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY WILL MEET THE RFA GOAL TO REDUCE FRESHWATER AND NUTRIENT DEMAND FOR CROP PRODUCTION, WHILE MINIMIZING THE RISK OF EMERGING CONTAMINANTS. IT WILL INCREASE THE SUSTAINABILITY AND COMPETITIVENESS OF THE U.S. AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY.

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators