Glen R. Boyd

 

Tulane Engineering Forum
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Glen R. Boyd, Ph.D., P.E.

Dr. Boyd is assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tulane University. He teaches senior-year design courses in environmental engineering and graduate courses in water quality and treatment, resources management, and ground water contaminant fate and transport. His current research focuses on the occurrence of low-level pharmaceutical contaminants in southeastern Louisiana and the efficacy of drinking water treatment technologies for the removal of pharmaceutical contaminants. His other research interests include

  1. treatment alternatives for DNAPL contaminant removal from ground water,
  2. application of trenchless technologies for water distribution and sewer collection systems, and
  3. innovative strategies for the control of biofilm growth in water distribution pipes.

Dr. Boyd previously worked as a consultant to the drinking water community with Economic and Engineering Services, Inc. (EES) in Bellevue, Washington. He also worked in hazardous waste and hazardous materials management with ENVIRON Corporation in Irvine, California. Before pursuing his doctorate in environmental engineering, he also worked as a petroleum engineer with the Exxon Production Department in New Orleans. He received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and master's degree in petroleum engineering from Tulane University, and his doctorate in environmental systems engineering from Clemson University. He is an active member of the American Water Works Association and serves as a project reviewer for the AWWA

Presentation Topic: Pharmaceutical Contaminants in Waters of Southeastern Louisiana

By Glen R. Boyd, Ph.D., P.E.

Summary

Recent studies conducted in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Israel, Brazil, Canada, and the United States indicate low-level concentrations of several pharmaceutical contaminants and their metabolites may be widespread in our water resources. The persistence of these contaminants has been attributed to

  1. human consumption of drugs and subsequent discharges from sewage treatment plants and
  2. veterinary use of drugs and nonpoint discharges from agricultural runoff.
Contamination by many of these compounds is of particular concern because they potentially can function as endocrine disruptors when ingested by humans. Several efforts currently are aimed at determining the physiological effects of pharmaceutical contaminants and other endocrine disruptors. Our current research focuses on determining how pervasive such compounds are in our local aquatic environment and the applicability of existing treatment technologies for the removal of pharmaceutical contaminants from our water resources.

For this presentation, we will summarize our findings to date and present data from samples collected from the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, and at-the-tap. In addition, we will present laboratory data from our bench-scale experiments regarding effectiveness of drinking water treatment alternatives. Results from this research will be used to determine the occurrence and to screen treatment alternatives for pharmaceutical contaminants in southeastern Louisiana.

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