Executive Summary : | A team of researchers is proposing to investigate the fate and transport of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in the surface water, groundwater, and sediments of the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The study is crucial as CECs, particularly pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), have been detected near and far from the Yamuna River at some of the highest levels in the world. The main objective of the proposed study is to fill the large knowledge gaps about the transport processes that govern the flux and fate of 31 target PPCPs, including antibiotics and estrogenic compounds, from surface water to groundwater in the NCR. The team hypothesizes that the rates by which PPCPs migrate from polluted surface water bodies into local aquifers can be determined from field (tracer test) and laboratory (batch and column) experiments. The data collected will be used to numerically simulate the fate and transport of PPCPs, which are currently largely uncharacterized within the NCR. The team is passionate about this research and has access to cutting-edge analytical equipment and methods, such as Time of Flight (QToF) mass spectrometers. The project will last three years and support at least two MHRD IITR Ph.D. students. |