Matthew Reid received the Community-Engaged Practice & Innovation Award in recognition for his research group’s partnership with the Ithaca Water Treatment Plant (IWTP). The partnership focuses on understanding and predicting the dynamics of manganese (Mn) in the Ithaca Reservoir, the drinking water source for approximately 30,000 people in the Ithaca community. High concentrations of Mn interfere with the treatment plant’s disinfection processes and can be a human health threat.

Since 2020, undergraduate and graduate students from the Reid Lab have worked closely with IWTP staff to collect and analyze water samples and create a model for predicting Mn concentrations. An important outcome of this partnership has been an interactive web interface that IWTP staff can use to predict Mn concentrations. Reid and a Ph.D. student have also shared research findings at a meeting with IWTP staff, civil engineers from the City of Ithaca and representatives from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).