THE WATER INNOVATION & REUSE LAB
Department of Civil Construction & Environmental Engineering
San Diego State University

WIRLab trains and mentors undergraduate and graduate students from diverse groups to take on environmental challenges in water scarce environments by conducting research on sustainable water and sanitation technologies and biogeochemical processes in natural and engineered systems. Current projects investigate the transformation and persistence of emerging chemicals in anaerobic and aerobic decentralized water reuse systems, sources of anthropogenic contaminants in urban rivers,  water quality response to stream restoration, the fate of microplastics in the environment, and rapid fluorescence-based tracking of organic contaminants in source waters, streams, and groundwater.
WIRLab is led by Dr. Natalie Mladenov, Associate Professor and William E. Leonhard Jr. Chair in the Department of Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering at SDSU.
Please contact Dr. Mladenov (at nmladenov @ sdsu.edu) or stop by E404 for a tour (once we're back in person!).
The virtual WIRLAB team
meeting on Zoom, Spring 2020
The WIRLAB team, Spring 2019.
PictureCheck out Lauren and Fed's outreach video!
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Stephanie and Lauren install outside-in hollow fiber membrane for NSF project on transformation of chemicals of emerging concern in water reuse systems.

WIRLAB NEWS

Join WIRLab as a MS student or undergraduate volunteer. TWO POSITIONS NOW AVAILABLE STARTING SUMMER/FALL 2021. Click here for more information.

Stay informed:  #BlackInSTEM      #BlackInTheIvory
-Some resources on anti-black racism here.
-Links to increasing transparency in recruiting, how allies can support racial justice, pledge to support SDSU's African American Community.

See this important link from the CDC on:  Water Transmission and COVID-19: Drinking Water, Recreational Water and Wastewater: What You Need to Know
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January 2021
WIRLab's Kristen Snyder and colleagues find that the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill near Santa Barbara released 488 persistent and potentially toxic water soluble compounds, which is more than 3 times as many as were released from a nearby natural oil seep. The research has been accepted in Marine Pollution Bulletin.
December 2020
Congratulations!!!
Federick Pinongcos received the Robert L. Wiegel Scholarship for Coastal Studies from the San Diego Foundation for his research on San Diego River pollution during storm events.
November 2020
WIRLab Director Mladenov is part of a team selected to study microfibers and micro-tire wear particles, their chemical inputs and toxicity in coastal waters, for the COAST State Science Information Needs Program.
October 2020
Congratulations!!!
Kristen Snyder (MS 2019) was recognized at the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Awards Banquet for receiving the MS Thesis Award, one of only two awards for an outstanding Environmental Engineering/Science thesis.

SDSU, ROCK THE VOTE!!!
September 2020
Congratulations to these WIRLab members!
- WIRLab alum, Cari Campbell is recognized in the CA-NV AWWA Spotlight
- MS student Alma Rocha awarded the Leonard Endowment Scholarship.
- JDP student Rachel Astete Vasquez awarded the Global Policy & Strategy Science Policy Fellowship at UCSD
- MS students Alma Rocha and Fed Pinongcos received the McMahon Chi Epsilon Scholarship
July 2020
- MS student Fed Pinongcos successfully defends his MS thesis on sources of microbial contamination in the San Diego - River during storm events. Congratulations Fed!
- MS student Alma Rocha awarded the 2020 SDSU Master's Research Scholarship!

WIRLab's San Diego River Contamination Study, conducted in collaboration with the Safe Water Lab, Disturbance Hydrology Lab, and Public Health at SDSU, reveals that leaky sewers have a major influence on stormwater quality in the San Diego River and that waste associated with homeless encampments is less of a contributor, but not negligible. For more information, please see the Executive Report, which summarizes our findings, and the Final Report, which includes detailed results.
NEWS ARCHIVES...