About the Author

Name and title(s):

Ivan Kozyatnyk, Ph.D.

Areas of expertise:

Adsorption; Ground water; Natural organic matter.

I am post-doc in Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Sweden. The topic of my study is the development of low-cost carbon adsorbent materials for ground water and waste water treatment, life cycle assessment.

Ivan Kozyatnyk is author of Filtration Materials for Groundwater: A Guide to Good Practice, which presents the up-to-date technology for the purification of polluted ground water. 

Questions

This year will be the 14th Leading Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies (LET 2017). Why is this event important?

Each year the LET conference brings together professionals from all over the world who work on solving emerging problems in the water sector. It is the exact time and place to share new ideas and solutions. It is also an excellent place for networking. For instance, my collaboration with IWA Publishing started during the LET 2013 Conference in Bordeaux.

This year, LET 2017 is dedicated to technology solutions in the water-energy-food interface. What do you think/hope this will achieve?

Today, the biggest challenge for water treatment is to discover how water, organic matter (e.g., hydrocarbons, pesticides, organic matter, and pathogenic), and inorganic matter (mainly heavy metals) can be separated to produce sufficient amounts of clean water. Contamination and scarcity problems as the result of climate change, urban growth, and industrial development exacerbate the problem. There is a clear need to develop innovative treatment technologies and materials that address challenges associated with the water quality and treatment. “Сlosing the loop” approach, where bio-based waste is energy efficiently converted into a highly efficient and specifically designed material looks very promising from this point of view.

What, for you, has been the most significant or exciting development in water and wastewater technologies in recent years?

Nanotechnology can play an important role in resolving or reducing many of the problems involving water purification and quality. Nanomaterials often exhibit novel and significantly changed physical, chemical, and biological properties resulting from their larger surface area per unit of volume and quantum effects. Promising nanotechnologies already exist that can be applied to water treatment.

Find out more about LET 2017 here.