Water securitySolving Problems for the World’s Freshwater Supply

Published 26 March 2021

Water’s value to society goes far beyond quenching thirst. An indispensable resource, it is required not only to sustain life, but also for economic prosperity. Water, for example, is needed to generate energy and to manufacture nearly everything, from food to clothes, cars and electronics. Our future economy and national security highly depend on the availability of clean water. But there is a limited supply of renewable fresh water when and where it is needed.

Water’s value to society goes far beyond quenching thirst. An indispensable resource, it is required not only to sustain life, but also for economic prosperity. Water, for example, is needed to generate energy and to manufacture nearly everything, from food to clothes, cars and electronics. Our future economy and national security highly depend on the availability of clean water.

However, there is a limited supply of renewable fresh water when and where it is needed. Population and economic growth, climate change and urbanization further exacerbate the growing water stress globally.

That is why the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory is working with partners across the country to address water challenges. On World Water Day, March 22, Argonne recommits to this effort and encourages companies, organizations and even individuals to do the same. By realizing water is a precious resource for all, everyone can contribute to the solutions.

One example is Argonne’s innovative Oleo Sponge, developed in 2017. It consists of a polyurethane foam specially treated with oil-adsorbing molecules through an Argonne-pioneered process called sequential infiltration synthesis. The Oleo Sponge can remove spilled oil selectively from a body of water, not only from the surface, but also below the surface, in the water column. It also can be reused again and again by wringing out the oil.

Junhong Chen is the lead water strategist and a senior scientist in Argonne’s Physical Sciences and Engineering directorate. Working with leaders at Argonne and elsewhere to create new partnerships with industry, DOE, other federal sponsors, foundations, academia and other stakeholders, he is growing Argonne’s water research program to help reduce water stress through science and innovation. That research can help in many ways.

For example, Argonne is proposing Great Lakes research to benefit the water supply in communities on Chicago’s South Side. In addition, water quality research with different partners such as the Discovery Partner Institute could contribute to global health, and wastewater-based epidemiology could help monitor community-level infection of diseases, such as COVID-19.

Water challenges need to be solved in conjunction with climate change, energy, food and health. Many partners can contribute to convergent water solutions. And Argonne is uniquely positioned to leverage and continue to build partnerships to address these challenges, said Chen, who is also a Crown Family Professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.