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Fate Of Persistent Contaminants And Emerging Algal Toxins In Drinking Water And The Environment, Danielle Christine Westerman

Theses and Dissertations

Population growth and global climate change has resulted in the degradation of pristine water sources, causing issues like saltwater intrusion, persistent harmful algal blooms, and drought from population growth. Future reliance on alternative sources of drinking water to is expected globally, therefore, nontraditional sources of drinking water are becoming increasingly vital sources of potable water around the world. For example, desalination (typically by reverse osmosis), despite its high energy demands and high cost, is being utilized all over the world to meet drinking water demand. Wastewater reuse, the additional treatment of wastewater to produce drinking water, either directly or indirectly, …

Water Dynamics And The Effect Of Static And Alternating Electric Fields, Mohammadmahdi Shafiei Alavijeh

Theses and Dissertations

Having a net dipole moment, water molecules tend to align with an external electric field. The re-orientation of water molecules to align with the field direction can result in structural and dynamic changes in liquid water. Studying these changes can help us to understand the role of an E-field in many biological systems, chemical reactions, and many technological advancements.

In short, the application of static electric fields causes molecules to stay aligned with the field, so, fewer hydrogen bonds break, and molecules have slower dynamics. This type of field can be used when the mobility of water molecules needs to …

A Potentiometric Method, A Convenient And Rapid Technique For Determination Of The Thermodynamics Of Ionization Reactions For Water, Weak Acids, And Some Slightly Soluble Salts In Aqueous Organic Mixed Solvents, Charanai Panichajakul

Theses and Dissertations

A potentiometric method which is devised to be rapid and convenient for determining ionization constants for water, weak acids (or bases), and certain solids in mixed solvents is described. The method has been applied to the determination of ionization for water, acetic acid, benzoic acid, and phenol and the solubility product constant for silver chloride in mixtures of water with methanol, ethanol, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, and p-dioxane containing from 0 to 70 mass percent organic co-solvent at several temperatures between 10 and 40°C. Results are used to study the thermodynamics of ionization in each mixture which is discussed relative to various …

Mechanism Of Water Transport Through Reverse Osmotic Membranes, Cheryl Kay Murphy

Theses and Dissertations

Cellulose acetate membranes show a higher permeability to water than to salt and are being used for desalination of salt water by reverse osmosis. Use of highly acetylated cellulose membranes give a higher salt rejection but also decrease flow rate of the water. The addition of very-short-chain substances or alkyl groups larger than one carbon atom to the cellulose membrane also decreases water flux. A proposed mechanism of transport through the membrane is that the water molecule is passed along the chain by hydrogen bonding with the acetyl groups, The NMR shows a change in the chemical shift of water …