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CUE 2004

UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Environmental Engineering: Student Monitors Tannery Wastewater in Mongolia

Sam Booth (right) and another graduate student test water from the Tuul River in Mongolia.

Environmental Engineering students are gaining global experience as they apply their knowledge to a wide array of environmental problems.

With funding from the National Science Foundation, Sam Booth, a senior pursuing dual bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering and environmental engineering, spent two months in Mongolia last summer collaborating with Professor Punsantsogvoo Munkhbataar at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology on the treatment of tannery wastewater.

The tanning of animal hides is a major industry in Mongolia, and tanners use chromium in hazardous hexavalent form to make the leather more durable. The tannery wastewater is treated before being released into Mongolia's streams and rivers, but the treatment processes currently employed by the tanning industry need substantial improvement. Chromium in the hexavalent form is highly toxic to aquatic life and to humans who rely on rivers for drinking water.

Booth worked with Professor Munkhbataar to optimize chromium removal in the treatment processes, and his work showed that acidification of the highly alkaline wastewater to pH 9 would dramatically increase chromium removal by precipitation. He also explored the development of a chromium recycling stream to capture chromium and reuse it in the tanning process, as well as a re-design of the tanning procedure to end the use of chromium. His summer research clearly identified the need for educating tannery owners and workers about the hazards of chromium use and pollution.

"Getting the opportunity to travel to Mongolia for the summer was an unforgettable experience," Booth says. "It made me realize what it was like to live in a developing country and allowed me to use my education to help people and the environment."

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