Dave Dzombak, the Walter J. Blenko Sr., Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and Director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research, will present the next installment in the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Distinguished Lecture Series, titled "Need and Challenge of Alternative Water Sources for Use in Electric Power Production." According to Dzombak, thermoelectric power generation in the U.S. accounts for about as much freshwater withdrawal as agricultural irrigation, with both at about 40 percent of the total. Meeting the future cooling water demands for electric power production will be difficult in locations with limited freshwater resources, and is already prompting interest in the use of waters of impaired quality, such as treated wastewater, mine drainage, and industrial process wastewater, as alternative sources. This talk will provide an overview of the water-energy challenge facing the U.S. and will examine the need for and challenges of using alternatives to freshwater for power plant cooling.

For more information, contact Associate Professor Robert Nerenberg at nerenberg.1@nd.edu.

Sponsored by the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and the Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University, with additional support from the University of Notre Dame College of Engineering and the Notre Dame Energy Center.