By Katrina Frazier, Civil Engineering Major, Mentor Allyson McGaughey.
Over the next 50 years New Mexico is expected to have a 25% reduction in our available freshwater. In this arid region, we face both growing water scarcity and water contamination, both contributing to an upcoming clean water crisis. But what if we could turn unconventional or contaminated sources of water into resources? New Mexico holds significant unused water sources. Currently, our state generates approximately 10 million barrels of produced water a day from the oil and gas industry. The state also contains extensive brackish groundwater, atmospheric moisture, and surface waters impacted by legacy mine waste. These sources can be difficult and inefficient to treat due to their high levels of dissolved salts, metals, and certain organic contaminants. Conventional water treatment methods do not always remove these challenging contaminants. Advanced membrane processes can be used to treat these difficult water sources. Advanced water treatment membranes have pores at the micro- or nanometer scale and specific material properties that allow pure water to pass while blocking contaminants. However, different contaminants have different properties and require different membranes to remove them. Our research focuses on improving membrane processes’ water/contaminate selectivity, durability, and energy efficiency. Water security means community security. If we don’t expand how we treat water, shortages will only worsen. Water security depends not only on how much water we have, but on how innovative and effective we can be to design systems to clean it. By developing new treatment technologies, such as advanced membranes for challenging water sources, we can turn every water source into an opportunity, ensuring that every drop counts for generations to come.