Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID Yang_2025

Scalable Cold-Plasma Water Treatment for E. coli disinfection in South Dakota Agricultural Water Systems

Institute: South Dakota
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $30,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $30,658

Principal Investigators: Ren Yang

Project Summary: Many South Dakota rivers and streams, like the Big Sioux, have high levels of bacteria (E. coli). This can make the water unsafe for growing fruits and vegetables, especially with new food safety rules, and for swimming or fishing. This project aims to help by developing and testing a new water cleaning technology called Cold Plasma, which uses energized air to kill germs. We will build larger test systems (5 and 50 gallons) and check how well they kill E. coli in both lab water and water taken directly from the Big Sioux River watershed. We will also measure how much electricity the system uses to find the most efficient way to run it. Our goal is to see if Cold Plasma can be a practical tool for farmers and others to clean water, meet safety standards, and protect South Dakota's water resources. We will share our results through outreach workshops and articles.