By Amanda A. Taylor
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded funding to UTRGV for its Biochar-Geomedia Water Filter project, which will create a low-cost prototype filter to clear out lead and other harmful chemicals in drinking water.
Dr. James Jihoon Kang, assistant professor within the UTRGV School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, and Dr. Jongmin Kim, assistant professor in Civil Engineering will oversee the project. The $24,875 grant was awarded as part of the EPA’s National Student Design Competition for Sustainability. “EPA’s P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) program supports teams of university students to design and develop environmental solutions for a sustainable future,” Kang said.
“The grant will provide the UTRGV student team with hands-on experience that brings their classroom learning to life while allowing them to create tangible changes in their communities.” Besides lead, the new filter project is proposed to filter and treat polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) in drinking water through a point-of-use (POU), pour-through treatment system.
The EPA defines PCBs – which were banned in 1979 – as man-made, potentially carcinogenic organic chemicals that were used in a broad range of commercial and industrial uses. PCBs persist today because they do not readily break down once in the environment and can remain for long periods by cycling between air, water,
“I hope this grant promotes student awareness in local environmental issues and helps find sustainable and practical solutions to alleviate the problem,” he said. “Also, I hope the biochar-pumice filter project highlights sustainability by using locally sourced filter materials and improves public health in our local
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