I investigate water treatment with a multidisciplinary approach to solve research questions in the following areas:
• Public Health and Emerging Carcinogens: Water disinfection generates undesired disinfection by-products(DBPs), toxic organic molecules often containing halogens, nitrogen or both. My career has focused on understanding how DBPs form in different disinfection regimes applicable to drinking, reclaimed and wastewater systems.
• Effect of Global Change on Drinking and Recycled Water Quality: My research involved understanding and predicting the effects of global change, associated with human impacts on climate and territory, to define strategies to mitigate them to ensure safe drinking water is provided to the population.
•Water Treatment Technologies: My research has determined the fate of DBPs and their precursor molecules through appropriate treatments such as membranes, adsorbents and oxidation processes. I have proposed novel engineering solutions to optimize disinfection striving to truly understand the process fundamentals by combining engineering and aquatic chemistry.
•Advanced Analytical Chemistry and forecasting of DBP formation: I´ve developed methods to predict DBP formation from the dissolved organic matter fingerprint measured with high-resolution mass spectrometry. This method assesses water quality holistically and offers vast opportunities for evaluating environmental and engineered processes.It has also recognized commercial potential value.