What the Experts Are Saying

Jim Crook is an environmental engineer with more than 40 years of experience in state government and consulting engineering arenas, serving public and private sectors in the U.S. and abroad.  He has authored more than 100 technical publications and is an internationally recognized expert in water reclamation and reuse.  He has been involved in numerous projects and research activities involving public health, regulations and permitting, water quality, risk assessment, treatment technology, and other areas of water reuse.  Crook spent 15 years directing the California Department of Public Health’s water reuse program, during which time he developed California’s first comprehensive water reuse criteria.  He also spent 15 years with consulting firms overseeing water reuse activities and is now an independent consultant specializing in water reuse.  He has served on several advisory panels and committees convened by the National Academy of Sciences, NWRI, and others.  Among his honors, he was selected as the American Academy of Environmental Engineers’ 2002 Kappe Lecturer and the WateReuse Association’s 2005 Person of the Year.  Crook received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and both an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.  He is a registered professional engineer in California and Florida.

Katherine Cushing has taught at San Jose State University since 2003.  Prior to joining the faculty, she worked in a variety of academic and professional positions, such as serving as the Associate Director for the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford, where she taught and conducted research in environmentally sustainable cities, business and the environment, and qualitative research methods. She was also a Senior Research Associate at the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security in Oakland, where she conducted research on environmental certification systems and global water issues.  As a private consultant, Cushing has conducted research for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Santa Clara Valley Water District, World Commission on Dams, and City of Palo Alto.  She is also Project Lead on the Urban Water Cycle Scenario Evaluation Tool for Sustainable Silicon Valley, a collaborative initiative to produce significant environmental improvement and resource conservation in Silicon Valley.  Cushing received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Science from Northwestern University and both an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a specialty in Environmental Planning and Management, from Stanford University.

Rupam Soni is a community liaison and engages the public for many Metropolitan facilities, initiatives, and infrastructure projects. Much of her work involves outreach for the Regional Recycled Water Program, Metropolitan’s first in-region water supply project. She is dedicated to making a difference in California’s water future through her work. Rupam is an active member of the WateReuse Association and leads their Communications Collaborative Group. She is also a member of the Board of Advisors for Grades of Green, an environmental nonprofit organization. Rupam has more than 20 years of work experience in the water and wastewater industries. She is a registered Civil Engineer and has a BS from UCLA and an MS from UC Berkeley in Civil Engineering.

Adam Olivieri has 35 years of experience in the technical and regulatory aspects of water recycling, groundwater contamination by hazardous materials, water quality and public health risk assessments, water quality planning, wastewater facility planning, urban runoff management, and on-site waste treatment systems.  He has gained this experience through working as a staff engineer with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (San Francisco Bay Region), as staff specialist (and Post-doc fellow) with the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, project manager/researcher for the Public Health Institute, and as a consulting engineer.  He is currently the Vice president of EOA, Inc., where he manages a variety of projects, including serving as Santa Clara County Urban Runoff Program’s Manager since 1998.  Olivieri is also the author or co-author of numerous technical publications and project reports.  He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut, an M.S. in Civil and Sanitary Engineering from the University of Connecticut, and both an MPH and Dr.PH in Environmental Health Sciences from University of California, Berkeley.

Mr. Sunny Wang is currently the Water Resources Manager at the City of Santa Monica where he oversees both water and wastewater operations for the City.  Sunny holds a B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Riverside.  He has over 20 years of experience in design and implementation of conventional and advanced water treatment technologies over a wide range of applications including desalination and potable reuse around the world.  He is also experienced in alternative delivery methods for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.  Sunny is currently leading the City’s efforts to diversify its water supply portfolio through implementing innovative projects for potable reuse and concentrate recovery as well as restoring impaired local groundwater supplies through advanced treatment technologies.

Jean Moran is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at California State University East Bay, where she is actively engaged in research in isotope hydrology and contaminant hydrogeology.  Her research interests include: groundwater dating and groundwater contamination vulnerability, analytical methods for environmental geochemistry, chemical evolution of fluids in the Earth’s crust, isotopic tracers in hydrogeology and environmental geology, artificial recharge, public health and drinking water quality, sources and transport of iodine in the environment, and sources and transport of nitrate in groundwater.  Prior to joining the university, she spent 11 years as a research scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and maintains a strong collaboration with LLNL’s research group in Isotopic Tracers and Transport, and leads projects under the State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) program.  Moran received a B.A. in Physics and B.S. in Geology from the University of Rochester, an M.S. in Geophysics from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the University of Rochester.

Mehul Patel has been with the Orange County Water District (OCWD) for 16 years, where he currently serves as the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) Program Manager.  As such, he is in charge of overseeing all treatment processes associated with the 70-mgd GWRS Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF) and its current expansion to 100 mgd.  The AWPF is the largest indirect potable reuse plant in the world.  Patel was formerly in charge of the day-to-day operation of all district applied research treatment processes.  He has extensive experience in pilot, demonstration, and full-scale operation of microfiltration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis technologies, and advanced oxidation systems.  He also worked as a process engineer assisting in troubleshooting for operation of OCWD’s Water Factory 21 facility.  Patel’s expertise is in the use advanced technologies for water reclamation and recycling.  He has written, presented, and published a number of technical papers relating to the use of membrane and ultraviolet light technologies for wastewater reclamation.  Patel received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from California State Polytechnic University Pomona and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from California State University Long Beach.  He is a registered professional civil engineer in California and is current president of the American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA).

Shane Snyder is a Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona and the Co-Director of the Arizona Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants.  He also holds joint positions as a professor both in the College of Public Health and in the College of Agriculture.  For nearly 20 years, his research has focused on the identification, fate, and health relevance of emerging water pollutants.  Snyder and his teams have published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters on emerging contaminant analysis, treatment, and toxicology.  In April 2008, he was one of six experts invited to testify before the U.S. Senate regarding pharmaceuticals in U.S. waters.  He has since been invited to brief the U.S. Congress three additional times.  Snyder has served two terms on the federal advisory committee to EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program and was an invited expert panel member for the development of EPA’s CCL3.  He was also a member of the National Academy of Science’s National Research Council Committee on Water Reuse and has served two appointments on the California Chemicals of Emerging Concern Expert Panels.  Recently, he was appointed to EPA’s Science Advisory Board for drinking water.  Dr. Snyder also is a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore, where he leads research on water reuse technologies and implications for public health.  Snyder received a B.A. in Chemistry from Thiel College and a Ph.D. in Zoology and Environmental Toxicology from Michigan State University.

Dr. R. Rhodes Trussell is chairman and CEO of Trussell Technologies, Inc., a small firm that operates in the nexus between engineering and science. An international authority on water quality and treatment, Dr. Trussell has more than 40 years of experience and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineers. He also has served as chair of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board on Drinking Water, as chair of the Water Science and Technology Board for the National Research Council, and as a member of eight NRC committees examining drinking water issues. Recently he chaired the NRC committee on Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation’s Water Supply Through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater.

Dr. George Tchobanoglous is professor emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis. His research interests are in the areas of wastewater treatment and reuse, ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, small and decentralized wastewater management systems, and solid waste management. With his coauthors, Dr. Tchobanoglous has written extensively on water reuse. His publications include the textbook Water Reuse: Issues, Technologies, and Applications, the WateReuse report Direct Potable Reuse: A Path Forward, and the National Water Research Institute’s (NWRI) white paper Direct Potable Reuse: Benefits for Public Water Supplies, Agriculture, the Environment, and Energy Conservation. Dr. Tchobanoglous serves as Chair of the NWRI Independent Advisory Panel for the City of San Diego’s Indirect Potable Reuse/Reservoir Augmentation Demonstration Project. He also serves on the NWRI Independent Advisory Panel for the Orange County Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment System.

Dr. Joan Rose serves as the Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research at Michigan State University, the co-director of the Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment, and co-director of the Center for Water Sciences. She is an international expert in water microbiology, water quality, and public health safety, having published more than 300 manuscripts. Dr. Rose also has been involved in the investigation of numerous waterborne outbreaks worldwide. Dr. Rose was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2011. She is a winner of the international Clarke Water Prize (for her contributions to water science and technology) and the first Hei-jin Woo Award for Achievements of Women in the Water Profession, from the International Water Association. Her public service includes serving as chair of the Drinking Water Committee for the Science Advisory Board for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and as a member of USA National Committee for the International Water Association, and Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academy of Science, National Research Council.

Dr. Rose’s work focuses on new molecular tools for surveying and mapping water pollution in recreational and drinking water, assessment of innovative water treatment technology for the developed and developing world, and quantitative microbial risk assessment. She has been involved in the study of water supplies, water used for food production, drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, reclaimed water, and water reuse. She is particularly interested in the transport of microbial pathogens in natural and engineered water systems and risks to humans.

Dr. Jörg E. Drewes is an award-winning professor and researcher who has 20 years of experience studying topics related to augmenting drinking water with water of impaired quality. His interests include design and operation of managed aquifer recharge systems, monitoring strategies in natural and engineered systems, modeling and operation of energy-efficient high-pressure membranes, and beneficial use of co-produced water. As principal investigator or co-principal investigator, Dr. Drewes has directed more than $13 million of research funded by national water foundations and research institutes, the federal government, academic institutions, and private industry.

Currently Dr. Drewes is a professor and research director for the NSF Engineering Research Center on Reinventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (based at Stanford University) and an associate director of the Advanced Water Technology Center at the Colorado School of Mines. He teaches water supply engineering and advanced water treatment and reuse and directs a hands-on environmental engineering pilot plant laboratory. He also serves on the National Research Council’s committee that examines water reuse as an approach for meeting future water supply needs and on the WateReuse Research Foundation’s research advisory council.

Dr. Joseph Cotruvo has a long history of working on issues related to drinking water, risk, and human health. After earning his doctorate in physical organic chemistry from Ohio State University, Dr. Cotruvo led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency division that developed comprehensive national drinking water regulations and risk assessments for microbial contaminants, organic and inorganic chemicals, and radionuclides. He also initiated an EPA advisory program that provides health risk guidance for unregulated contaminants and emergencies. Dr. Cotruvo has published widely on water quality and safety, health risk management, risk assessment, toxicology testing, water reuse, regulatory policy, small water systems, emergency water supplies, and decentralized small systems water delivery technology.

Dr. Cotruvo is a longtime member of the World Health Organization’s committee on drinking water quality guidelines and has written or contributed to WHO studies on the health aspects of plumbing, calcium and magnesium in drinking water, waterborne diseases and pathogens, the health and environmental impacts of desalination technology, and chlorine disinfection of food products. He is chairman of the Regulatory Committee of the WateReuse Association and serves on numerous expert advisory groups on drinking water quality, desalination, and water reuse. As president of Joseph Cotruvo and Associates, LLC, Dr. Cotruvo is developing projects on mineral nutrition, desalination and water health in the Middle East. Other international experience includes assisting Abu Dhabi and Kuwait on bromate water quality and risk issues and serving on a water standards advisory committee in Singapore.

Dr. Takashi Asano is professor emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis. His research interests are in the area of water reclamation and reuse and water resources management. He worked at the California State Water Resources Control Board (CSWRCB) in the formative years (1978-1992) of water reclamation and reuse.

Dr. Asano’s publications include Irrigation with Reclaimed Municipal Wastewater: A Guidance Manual (co-editor with G. Stuart Pettygrove, 1984), Artificial Recharge of Groundwater (editor, 1985), and Water Reuse: Issues, Technologies, and Applications (co-author, 2007). Dr. Asano received the 2001 Stockholm Water Prize.