Overview

Information

Chapter: University of Rochester

Primary Contact(s): Linh Hoang

Primary Contact(s) email(s): thoang8@u.rochester.edu

Project Start: Spring 2020

Project Type: Water

Spatial Scope: School/Campus

Estimated Duration (Semesters): 1

Majors Represented: Chemical

Years Represented: 1st Year Undergrad, 2nd Year Undergrad

Estimated Project Cost: 0

Funding Source: N/A

Collaborators: Technical mentorship

Community Partners: McGrath lab

Project Description & Impact:

Our manual microplastics count was used to verify a computer microplastic sorting algorithm, which will be used to facilitate further studies into water quality. For participants, the project gave insight into effects of old pipelines and filters on water quality, specifically how microplastics from these can seep into tap and drinking water.

Recommendations:

Due to time constraints, we only counted microplastic fibers and sorted them by size. More information would be gained from a similar study where smaller micoplastic particles are counted and sorted. More importantly, while fibers and particles are effectively filtered at drinking fountains, McGrath lab identified microbeads in drinking water samples. Future studies should pay particular attention to these microbeads.

We identified and categorized microplastics in images of tap water samples taken along the pipe from Hemlock Lake to the University of Rochester Goergen Hall tap. This is part of a study into the applications of a nanoporous-membrane water filter at McGrath lab at the University of Rochester.

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Tap Water Microplastics

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