NSF-BSF Application: Developing Sustainable Approaches for Cometabolic Degradation of TCE and cDCE in Groundwater through Stable Isotope Techniques

Groundwater contamination remains a significant global problem because of the risk to human health from drinking contaminated water. Increasing water scarcity has led to an urgent need for effective and inexpensive approaches to treat contaminated groundwater. The goal of this project is to address this need using innovative monitoring methods to determine the most appropriate approach.

This research project by an international collaboration of researchers from Michigan State University and Ben Gurion University will develop a biological treatment approach called ‘bioremediation’ to remove two of the most common groundwater contaminants. The research will advance understanding of bioremediation through novel state-of-the-science chemical and biological analytical techniques.

Successful development of efficient and low-cost treatment technology will benefit society by increasing availability of clean water. Additional benefits result from the training of underrepresented students in engineering, thus strengthening and diversifying the Nation’s STEM workforce. This research is jointly funded by NSF and The US-Israel Binational Science foundation through the special submission opportunity NSF 20-094.

The goal of this project is to enhance the aerobic bioremediation of the important groundwater contaminants trichloroethene [TCE] and cis-dichloroethene [cDCE]. This goal will be achieved by specific research designed to elucidate which microorganisms provide the most sustainable rates of co-metabolic biodegradation of TCE and cDCE, as well as co-metabolic substrate uptake.

The fate of carbon from both the co-metabolic substrates as well as TCE, cDCE, and their degradation products will be assessed using stable isotope probing (SIP). SIP will be combined with compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) to determine isotope enrichment patterns for these transformations using the complementary expertise and facilities of the U.S. and Israeli research teams.

The approach of using both SIP and CSIA will allow for the first time the identification of biodegradation pathways and responsible microorganisms in the field. Successful completion of this research will transform our ability to identify the most sustainable bioremediation scenarios and facilitate elucidation of removal mechanisms in situ. Such data will enable remediation professionals to predict contaminant removal times and assess treatment scenarios more accurately.

The research has strong potential to benefit society because these chemicals are major groundwater contaminants across a large number of aquifers in the U.S., Israel, and many other countries.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.