This past fall, I participated in the Young Professionals Poster Session at the 2011 WaterJAM meeting—a partnership between the Virginia Water Environment Association and the Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association—in Virginia Beach. The poster session is an opportunity for young professionals and students to present their work in the water and wastewater sciences.

As part of my graduate studies in civil engineering at George Mason University, my poster presentation included recent research on the performance of low-technology methods for improving drinking water quality in developing countries. I studied the performance of two “low-tech” water filtration methods: a slow sand filter and a silver nanoparticle coated ceramic filter.

My evaluation focused on each filtration system and its affect on water turbidity levels and removal of microbiological contaminants. These filtering systems offer methods to supply cleaner drinking water to people in developing countries. However, I observed that water quality could be compromised with weather and environmental changes.

To explore the performance of each filter system under changing weather, I performed several tests. My results demonstrated that a ceramic filter tends to be more effective at lowering the turbidity level of the source water and removing microbiological contaminants even though the flow rate is substantially lower than that of the slow sand filter.

Presenting my results at WaterJAM allowed me to share my findings with other industry professionals. I appreciate all of their feedback—a great value as I progress in my career.