Why do we study ATOM?

To begin with, what actually is ATOM?

• ATOM, or aquatic and terrestrial organic matter, represents a variety of living and dead organic materials present in diverse environmental matrices, including but not limited to water bodies, soils, plastics, biosolids, plants, fuel oils, and food waste.

Why does ATOM matter?

• ATOM is ubiquitous in our daily lives, influencing many ecological and engineering processes and impacting environmental and public health.

• Organic matters undergone different pathway of journey with different biochemical processes will possess differentiate characteristics and properties that can understood as the blood cell of nature. By interpreting organic matters we will be able to understand the entire history and life journey ATOM comprised of.

ATOM & Drinking Water Safety

DOM and Its Role as a DBP Precursor

Disinfectants such as Chlorine is introduced to the source water to eliminate the occurrence of bacteria and pathogens. Natural organic matter such as humic acid (precursor of DBPs) from source water is then treated with the addition of Chlorine and eventually formed halogenated chemicals which is also named Disinfection Byproducts (DBPs). 

Chloroform (CHCl3) is the most commonly observed DBPs in tap water and most of identified DBPs are carcinogenic and mutagenic. It  contacted with human due to showering and dishwashing. Thus, our team aim to minimize DBP formation in municipal water in 4 ways: 

1. Imply alternative disinfectants

2. Improve and advance treatment process

3. Remove DBPs  precursors

4. Control DBPs precursors at its source --- our ulitmate goal among the four approaches 

various DBPs in treated water

Forests have long served as natural sponges and filters within the hydrologic cycle. Water from forested watersheds is often of high quality and typically requires minimal treatment before it is safe to drink. In recent decades, increasing wildfire behavior has disrupted these environments’ functions. Global meta-analyses indicate large data gaps and diversity across observed impacts of forest fires on water quality. As the global fire crisis is addressed, an interdisciplinary approach must be emphasized when evaluating the complex influence fire events have on watershed biogeochemical processes and source water quality for periods immediately postfire disturbance, as well as long after. The fire regime, watershed conditions, and physical/chemical postfire interactions are deeply interconnected, leaving a uniquely complex influence directly on the fire-affected environments, as well as downstream freshwater sources.