ASCE's grading of U.S. urban infrastructure underscores critical challenges, assigning a D+ for wastewater system and a D for drinking water. These grades reflect an urgent need for innovative solutions. The "Minus Approach" emerges as a transformative strategy through integrating membrane -based separation and AI-driven optimization to enhance safety in chlorinated drinking water. By minimizing regulated and unregulated disinfection byproducts (DBPs), as well as known, unknown, and emerging contaminants (KUECs), this method safeguards water quality without compromising its safety. It offers a proactive pathway for mitigating future drinking water risks posed by KUECs.
Traditional wastewater treatment, on the other hand, often overlooks the potential of valuable resources. A paradigm shift is needed: viewing wastewater as a resource rather than waste. By applying the Minus Approach, nutrients and water can be recovered and repurposed for decentralized precision digital agriculture, reimagining wastewater management.
This dual strategy—enhancing drinking water safety and transforming wastewater into a resource—advances urban sustainability and resilience while addressing critical infrastructure challenges.
Dr. Yongsheng Chen is the Bonnie W. and Charles W. Moorman IV Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Director of Nutrients Energy Water Center for AgTech. Professor Chen’s research interests include environmental nanotechnology, membrane technology for sustainable energy and nutrients recovery, the Food-Energy-Water Nexus, and machine learning-aided inverse design and discovery of sustainable materials for membrane fabrication and CO2 removal, system integration, and process optimization. He has served as PI/Co-PI on sponsored research projects totaling more than $42M, of which, $19.5M has been, or is being, spent in his laboratory. He has over 220 published research articles. He has received numerous accolades, including the CAPEES/Nanova Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Chemical Society Editor’s Award, the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Sustained Research Award and Multidisciplinary Research Award, Sigma Xi Best Ph.D. Student Dissertation Advisor Award, and AEESP Outstanding Ph.D. Student Advisor Award. His work has been recognized by many national and international media outlets including Forbes, C&EN, AEESP, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), and Water Environment Federation.