Water Quality Management Branch

Branch Information

Christopher A. Impellitteri
Branch Chief

Phone: 513-487-2672
Email: impellitteri.christopher@epa.gov

Workforce
Research Projects
Recent Publications
Contact Information

WSWRD Organization

The Water Quality Management Branch (WQMB) is part of the Water Supply and Water Resources Division of the Office of Research and Development's National Risk Management Research Laboratory's (NRMRL). WQMB addresses areas of investigation that align with NRMRL's mission and the overarching strategic plan of the Office of Research and Development. Our interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and technicians provide technical support to EPA's Office of Water, EPA regional offices, state governments, communities, and homeowners. Staff members also engage in collaborative research with water utilities, consultants, and academic institutions.

Our Focus

WQMB resource managers face ever increasing challenges, such as climate change, land use alteration and population growth. WQMB research involves the entire water cycle as it affects water resources. Our researchers conduct experiments on managing water quality in a wide variety of environments including drinking water, ground and surface water, wastewater, and reused/recycled water. Our research involves monitoring and assessing the factors that impact water quality in these settings, and provides results for improving our ability to meet water quality criteria for specific end uses of the water.

Key research areas:

WQMB researchers provide results for stakeholders, such as utilities and state primacy agencies, in order to better inform decision makers on water management issues. We strive to develop planning tools that will incorporate new and innovative ideas for sustaining the nation's water resources. To conduct our research we utilize several highly specialized water research facilities located in the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio area: the Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center; the Test and Evaluation Facility; and the Experimental Stream Facility.

Workforce

WQMB is comprised of seventeen federal scientists, engineers, and technicians. The research is conducted in onsite laboratories, pilot plants and field sites throughout the United States. We pride ourselves in preparing for the future not just through our research – we often fill post-doctoral positions as well as provide student internships, which foster interest and fresh research ideas. WQMB staff and interns frequently collaborate with other offices, laboratories, and centers in and outside of the Agency. Over the past decade we have also hosted visiting scientists from a variety of agencies and international organizations.

Jeffrey Adams (PDF) (1 pp, 197 KB) - Environmental Engineer

Joel Allen (PDF) (2 pp, 187 KB) - Environmental Scientist

Elly Best (PDF) (2 pp, 259 KB) - Ecologist

Donald Brown (PDF) (1 pp, 216 KB) - Environmental Engineer

Kit P. Daniels (PDF) (1 pp, 221 KB) - Engineering Technician

Roy Haught (PDF) (8 pp, 374 KB) - Environmental Scientist

Christopher Impellitteri (PDF) (2 pp, 152 KB) - Supervisory Environmental Engineer (Branch Chief)

Eric Kleiner (PDF) (2 pp, 280 KB) - Environmental Engineer

Dana A. Macke (PDF) (1 pp, 161 KB)- Physical Scientist

Vasudevan Namboodiri (PDF) (1 pp, 181 KB) - Chemist

Jill Neal (PDF) (1 pp, 220 KB) - Environmental Engineer

Christopher Nietch (PDF) (2 pp, 191 KB) - Ecologist

Craig Patterson (PDF) (2 pp, 202 KB) - Environmental Engineer

Deborah L. Roose (PDF) (2 pp, 209 KB)- Physical Science Technician

Lewis Rossman (PDF) (2 pp, 228 KB) - Environmental Scientist

Kathleen Schenck (PDF) (1 p, 203 KB) - Environmental Scientist

Y. Jeffrey Yang (PDF) (2 pp, 215 KB) - Physical Scientist

Research Projects

Title	Research Area (s)	Principal Investigator (s)
Technical Support for Watershed/Distribution System Research: On-Line Toxicity Monitor Research for Source Water and Distribution System Water Quality Early Warning Systems	Source Water Protection	Joel Allen
Environmental Fate and Transport of Inorganic Nanomaterials	Source Water Protection	Christopher Impellitteri
Cost & Performance of Innovative Water Filtration Technologies Integrated to Remote Telemetry Systems in High-Turbidity Public Surface Water Systems in Tropical Environments	Treatment Technologies	Christopher Impellitteri & Rajib Sinha
Drinking Water Distribution System Simulator Research Center - Biofilm Test Loop Research Projects	Distribution Systems	Christopher Impellitteri
Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Treatment Technology Evaluation and Development	Aging Drinking Water Infrastructure	Eric Kleiner
Advanced Decentralized Water/Energy Network Design for Sustainable Infrastructure	Aging Wastewater Infrastructure	Jill Neal
Effects of multiple stressors on stream ecology at the mesocosm and field scales	Watershed Management	Christopher Nietch & Donald Brown
Development of watershed monitoring systems to better quantify best management practices and assess risk for drinking water source protection	Watershed Management	Christopher Nietch & Donald Brown
Alternative Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Technologies for Small Communities	Treatment Technologies	Craig Patterson
Metals Removal from Household Well Water in Mine Waste Areas	Treatment Technologies	Craig Patterson
Adding Low Impact Development Modeling into EPA's Storm Water Management Model	Watershed Management	Lewis Rossman
Updating the EPANET Water Distribution System Simulation Model	Distribution System Water Quality	Lewis Rossman
Evaluation of Drinking Water Treatment Technologies for Removal of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs)	Treatment Technologies	Kathleen Schenck (Nicholas Dugan & Heath Mash - TTEB)
Multi-Scale Infrastructure Assessment	Aging Wastewater Infrastructure	Y. Jeffery Yang
Pipe Leak Detection Technology Development	Aging Wastewater Infrastructure	Y. Jeffery Yang
Water Reuse and Soil Column Studies for Alternative Water Resource Development	Aging Wastewater Infrastructure	Y. Jeffery Yang

Recent Publications

Journal Articles

Mash, H., Schenck, K.M., and Rosenblum, L. (2010). "Hypochlorite Oxidation of Select Androgenic Steroids." Water Research. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 44(6):1950-1960.
Clark, R.M., Y.J. Yang, C.A. Impellitteri, R.C. Haught, D. Schupp, S. Panguluri, E.R. Krishnan. (2010). "Chlorine Propagation in Distribution Systems: Experimental and Modeling Studies." (2010). Journal of the American Water Works Association, 102(5): 144-155.
Yang, Y. J. (2010). "Redefine Water Infrastructure Adaptation to a Nonstationary Climate (Editorial)." Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Reston, VA, 136(3):297-298.
Kibbey, T. C., L. Chen, D. A. Sabatini, M. A. Mills, and C. Nietch. (2010). "Model Stream Channel Testing of a UV-transparent Polymer-based Passive Sampler for uUltra-low-cost Water Screening Applications." Chemosphere. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 80(8):908-913.
Chang, N., Y. J. Yang, J. A. Goodrich, and A. Daranpob. (2010). "Development of the Metropolitan Water Availability Index (MWAI) and Short-term Assessment with Multi-scale Remote Sensing Technologies." Journal of Environmental Management. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 91(6):1397-1413.
Jasper, A., H. H. Salih, G. A. Sorial, R. Sinha, R. Krishnan, and C. L. Patterson. (2010). "Impact of Nanoparticles and Natural Organic Matter on the Removal of Organic Pollutants by Activated Carbon Adsorption." Environmental Engineering Science. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Larchmont, NY, 27(1):85-93.
Scheckel, K.G., T.P. Luxton, A.M. El Badawy, C.A. Impellitteri, T.M. Tolaymat. (2010). "Synchrotron Speciation of Silver and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Aged in a Kaolin Suspension." Environmental Science and Technology. 44(4):1307-1312.
Allen, H. J., , D. Macke, D. Roose, J. M. Lazorchak, H. Poynton, L. Heckman, S. Govindaswamy, and M. Nadagouda. (2010). "Effects from Filtration, Capping Agents, and Presence/Absence of Food on the Toxicity of Silver Nanoparticles to Daphnia Magna." Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Pensacola, FL, 29(12):2742-2750.
Subramanian, B., V. Namboodiri, A. P. Khodadoust, and D. D. Dionysiou. (2010). Extraction of Pentachlorophenol from Soils using Environmentally Benign Lactic Acid Solutions. Journal of Hazardous Materials. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 174(1-3):263-269.
Chang, N., Y. J. Yang, and A. Daranpob. (2010). "Middle-term Metropolitan Water Availability Index Assessment Based on Synergistic Potentials of Multi-sensor Data." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing. Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, Inc. (SPIE), Bellingham, WA, 4(1):043519. DOI:10.1117/1.3386582.
Muhammad, N., R. Sinha, R. Krishnan, C. L. Patterson, R. Haught, H. H. Harms, and R. Seville. (2010). "Evaluating a Composite Cartridge for Small System Drinking Water Treatment." Journal of Water and Health. IWA Publishing, London, UK, 8(2):212-223.
Ying, L., R. Ehrhard, P. Biswas, P. Kulkarni, C. L. Patterson, R. Krishnan, R. Sinha, and C. Skouby. (2009). "Removal of Waterborne Particles by Electrofiltration: Pilot-Scale Testing." Environmental Engineering Science. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Larchmont, NY, 26(12):1795-1803.

Book Chapters

Yang, Y. J., R. M. Clark, and A. D. Levine. (2010). "Chlorine and Solute Transport and Reactions in Drinking Water Distribution: The Role of Flow Hydrodynamics on Water Quality Changes and Multi-Criteria Compliance." Chapter 9 in Risk Management; Safety and Risk in Society Series. Edited by , B. Jordao and E. Sousa. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, Hauppauge, NY, ISBN: 9781608760114.

Reports

US EPA. Blumenstein, M., B. Bartley, and J. Q. Adams. (2010). "Removal of Uranium in Drinking Water: Brimac Environmental Services, Inc. Brimac HA 216 Adsorptive Media." (PDF) (68 pp, 986 Kb) Publication No. EPA/600/R-10/099.
US EPA. Blumenstein, M., B. Bartley, and J. Q. Adams. (2010). "Removal of Inorganic, Microbial, and Particulate Contaminants from a Fresh Surface Water: Village Marine Tec. Expeditionary Unit Water Purifier, Generation 1." (PDF) (146 pp, 3.8 Mb) Publication No. EPA/600/R-09/124.
US EPA. Blumenstein, M., B. Bartley, and J. Q. Adams. (2010). "Removal of Dissolved Salts and Particulate Contaminants from Seawater: Village Marine Tec., Expeditionary Unit Water Purifier, Generation 1." Publication No. EPA/600/R-10/013.
US EPA. Blumenstein, M., B. Bartley and J. Q. Adams. (2010). "Removal of Microbial Contaminants in Drinking Water: Siemens Corporation Memcor® S10V Ultrafiltration Module." (PDF) (42 pp, 1.1 Mb)Publication No. EPA/600/R-09/110.
US EPA. Blumenstein, M., B. Bartley and J. Q. Adams. (2010). "Removal of Microbial Contaminants in Drinking Water: Siemens Corporation Memcor® L10V Ultrafiltration Module." (PDF) (48 pp, 1 Mb)Publication No. EPA/600/R-09/109.
US EPA. Blumenstein, M., B. Bartley and J. Q. Adams. (2010). "Removal of Microbial Contaminants in Drinking Water: Siemens Corporation Memcor® L20V Ultrafiltration Module." (PDF) (41 pp, 1 Mb)Publication No. EPA/600/R-09/108.
US EPA. Blumenstein, M., B. Bartley and J. Q. Adams. (2010). "Removal of Microbial Contaminants in Drinking Water: Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. Targa® 10-48-35-PMC™ Ultrafiltration Membrane, as Used in the Village Marine Tec. Expeditionary Unit Water Purifier." (PDF) (48 pp, 1 Mb) Publication No. EPA/600/R-09/075.

Software/Models

US EPA. (2010). "Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) version 5.0.020 with LID Controls." SWMM was first developed in 1971; the current edition, Version 5, is a complete re-write of the previous release and was completed in August 2010.

U.S. Patents

US EPA. Yang, Y.J., J. Hall, R.C. Haught and J.A. Goodrich. (2011). "Adaptive Real-Time Contaminant Detection and Early Warning for Drinking Water Distribution Systems." United States Patent No.: US 7,866,204 B2. Awarded - January 11, 2011.
US EPA. Haught, R.C., et al. (2010). "Process and Apparatus for Removal of Biocolloids from Water." United States Patent No. US 7,811,460 B2. Awarded - October 12, 2010.
US EPA. Vane, L., R. Ponangi and V. Namboodiri. (2009). "Hydrophilic Cross-Linked Polymeric Membranes and Sorbents." United States Patent No.: US 7,622,045 B2. Awarded - Nov. 24, 2009.

Newsletter Articles

Patterson, C. L. and Bromley, E. (2009). "Radial Flow Fluidized Filter Finds Niche as a Pretreatment System for Surface Water in Small Communities." IN: EWRI Currents, Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of ASCE, Reston, VA, 11 (1): NA, Winter 2009.
US EPA. "Streams of Science" - EPA scientists use a unique Experimental Stream Facility to explore the health of stream ecosystems and watersheds. IN: Science Matters Newsletter, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Volume 1| Number 3 (August/September 2010).

Contact Information

To ask a question or report a problem regarding the Water Research web pages, please contact Michelle Latham, 513-569-7601, or use the address below.

Mailing address

U.S. EPA National Risk Management Research Laboratory
Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center
Water Supply and Water Resources Division
26 West Martin Luther King Drive
Mail Code: MLK 689
Cincinnati, OH 45268

Office of Research & Development | National Risk Management Research Laboratory