Managing Brackish Groundwater

Texas should ease regulatory hurdles for aquifer storage and recovery programs

Water planning is difficult in Texas, a state that is no stranger to drought. One tool water planners can use is aquifer storage and recovery, whereby water is stored underground, safe from evaporation, until it is needed. Read more about ASR, and some associated policy issues, in the Houston Chronicle Blog.

How many people are lucky enough to embrace their passion as a career?  Years ago, Dan Steinberg worked as the operations astronomer for the Hubble Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute.  When he wasn’t at his day job, he volunteered doing science outreach work and loved it.  In 2000, he decided it was time to leave scientific research and plunge into a career in science education.  As someone fully committed to science education and outreach, Dan knows he makes a huge difference in the lives of people young and old, teaching them about the world of science and offering them opportunities to explore the natural world in a rigorous fashion.  He also strives to be a facilitator, helping scientists effectively engage the public, building an inclusive, formal and informal science education network at one of the nation’s leading universities.

Read more about Steinberg and other Science Enthusiasts here.

Our recent publication on biofilms in reverse osmosis and membrane distillation is now on the Environmental Science and Technology website. (Link) Using prefiltered water from the Long Island Sound in both of these systems, we saw significant differences in the morphology of the membrane biofilms. We also looked at the microbial communities in both of these systems. We discuss how and why biofilm formation in each of these desalination systems is different.