The following research group descriptions are archived because they are no longer offered, the researcher is on sabbatical, or the group is taking a break. Please contact the researcher or an advisor to learn more about these groups.
- Rebuilding the Nation’s Drinking Water Infrastructure - Where are the Lead Pipes and What Comes Next?
- Safe Drinking Water Provision in Public Institutions
- Water You Drinking?
Winter 2025
Instructors:
- Dr. Katya Cherukumilli
- Stephanie Hung (HCDE PhD student)
After the Flint water crisis, the U.S. EPA passed landmark federal regulation in 2021 called the “Lead and Copper Rule Revisions”, which established new requirements to protect people from lead exposure through drinking water. One requirement is for all community water systems to replace any lead service lines with an alternative material (such as copper, plastic, or galvanized steel) within the next 10 years! However, there is growing concern that these alternative materials may also contaminate future water supplies and pose a threat to human and ecosystem health.
The purpose of this Winter 2025 DRG is to gather, synthesize, and vizualize data from lead service line inventories submitted by community water systems to gain a snapshot of the plumbing materials being used across the United States. In particular, this collaborative work will help shed light on the following reserach questions: (1) Which regions across the U.S. are currently using lead (versus other materials such as plastic, galvanized steel, or copper) to transport water from water treatment plants to communities, households, and institutions? (2) Is there evidence that certain utilities are prioritizng plastic as the alternative material for service lines due to its low cost? and (3) Which regions are at higher risk of damage to their water infrastructure due to climate disturbances such as wildfires and other extreme weather events?
Enrollment information
- Meeting time: Exact meeting time will be jointly decided later on based on group availability.
- Credits: 2 credits recommended (equivalent to 2 hours of in-person DRG class meetings and 4 hours of additional work per week).
- Who should apply: We are primarily recruiting upper-level undergraduates (juniors and seniors) and graduate students (M.S. or Ph.D) to participate in this DRG.
- Desired skills include data visualization, data mining/aggregation, database management, and/or building online dashboards for science communication.
- Desired interests include environmental and public health, federal policy/regulations, public infrastructure, and/or water equity
- This DRG counts toward the directed research requirement for PhD students.
- To apply: Complete this Google Form by midnight on December 5, 2024.
- Anticipated notification date: December 15, 2024
- Questions? Email Katya Cherukumilli (katyach@uw.edu) and Stephanie Hung (sshung@uw.edu)
Winter 2024
Safe Drinking Water Provision in Public Institutions
The purpose of this Winter 2024 DRG is to characterize and evaluate drinking water infrastructure in two local settings: (1) UW College of Engineering buildings built pre-2000 and (2) Seattle primary schools and childcare facilities. For the first setting (UW), our group will be deploying online surveys developed in Fall 2023 to evaluate building users’ experiences, behaviors, and perceptions related to drinking water, in addition to conducting water quality tests. For the second setting (K-12 schools), we will analyze and spatially map lead contamination data provided by the WA State Department of Health. In addition, we will review relevant scientific literature to identify effective strategies for communicating risk and technical knowledge to the general public.
Contact: For questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Katya Cherukumilli (katyach@uw.edu)
Autumn 2023
Concerns with drinking water quality plague individual and institutional users worldwide. Over 2 billion people worldwide lack safe water access and millions of Americans are exposed to aqueous chemical contaminants through their consumption of public and private drinking water supplies. The purpose of this year-long DRG is to develop replicable survey tools, experimental methods, and data collection protocols to characterize drinking water usage, assess and experimentally validate perceptions of water safety and risk, and communicate technical knowledge to the public.
To contextualize our work, we will identify and map water infrastructure in select UW campus buildings and document building occupants’ experiences and opinions about their access (or lack thereof) to high quality water sources. A quick walk around campus clearly demonstrates the age of different UW College of Engineering (est. 1901) buildings, ranging from Roberts Hall (est. 1921) to the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (under construction, occupancy in 2025) – we will uncover if and how building age impacts the quality of drinking water taps and fountains.
In this DRG, students will have the opportunity to establish and use a water quality testing lab in More Hall and develop a sampling and analysis protocol for future work. In parallel, students will collaborate in teams to design an interactive dashboard to report concerning water quality results, conduct virtual and in-person surveys, summarize common trends in interview data, and synthesize/share resources on water treatment and monitoring technologies. No previous wet-lab experience is required, but an interest in social equity, environmental justice issues, and/or scientific curiosity will be appreciated.
When: Meet in-person 1-2 hours/week (date, time, location to be decided based on student availability); additional independent work and group meetings for ~ 4 hours/week.
Credits: 2 credits recommended (equivalent to 6 hours of work per week).
Contact: For questions or concerns, please contact Assistant Professor Dr. Katya Cherukumilli (katyach@uw.edu)
Application: Please complete this google form by EOD Wednesday, September 20th. Decisions will be made by Monday, September 25th and our first meeting will be held on Thursday, September 28th (time and location TBD).