ARLINGTON, Texas — UT Arlington scientist Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo has received a two-year grant worth $399,799 by the U.S. Department of Interior to develop a drinking water evaluation tool.
According to UTA, the tracer tool would help water suppliers better manage the drinking water across North Texas.
A tracer is a substance that can be detected in water at low concentrations, which allows researchers to trace the flow of water; an important part of understanding the processes in hydrological systems, UTA said in a news release.
"The main goal of this project is to implement a tracer tool within the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) of north-central Texas to better enable those in charge of the water supply to ensure the security and reliability of the region's drinking water during droughts, flooding, and other extreme weather events," Dr. Sánchez-Murillo said in a news release.
According to Sánchez-Murillo, the following three things need to be quantified:
- Blending ratios from drinking water reservoirs
- The arrival time of such water blends to drinking water treatment plants
- The incursion and persistence time of recycled stormwater in the tap water distribution system after rainfall events
Being able to quantify each of these things will help water managers better understand and monitor the water that North Texans consume, Sánchez-Murillo said.
The scientist believes the tracer tool could be used in other settings across the country that also rely on surface water reservoirs for drinking water supply.
