Small Flows Program History

The Small Flows Program (SFP) was established at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in Golden, Colorado in 1995 to advance the science and engineering of onsite and decentralized approaches, devices and technologies to achieve sustainable water and sanitation. During the subsequent 20+ years major research and educational projects were carried out by a team of more than 20 faculty, staff and students from several departments at CSM in collaboration with other institutions in the United States and abroad. The overall program goals were to enhance the quantitative understanding of processes important to system design and performance and develop decision-support tools for applications involving individual houses and buildings all the way up to those involving large developments, communities, and watershed-scale situations.

Research has included field monitoring, laboratory and filed experimental studies, and modeling to:

• Characterize wastewater effluents from domestic, commercial, and institutional sources with respect fo routine properties such as organic matter, nutrients, and pathogens as well as emerging organic chemicals like pharmaceuticals and personal care products,
• Determine the treatment mechanisms that can be exploited to purify water by removal of chemicals and microbes of concern,
• Quantify the design and performance relationships for different unit operations including bioreactors, biofilters, soil units, wetland systems, and membrane units,
• Evaluate the performance of full-scale systems and enable systems analysis regarding performance capabilities and reliability,
• Assess the relative pollutant contributions to surface waters and ground waters from nonpoint and point sources and develop / validate watershed-scale models,
• Develop source tracking tools using chemical and bacterial signatures to allocate water quality impacts to different sources, and,
• Develop decision-support tools to aid system design and operation to achieve a prescribed performance.

In support of this research the apparatus and facilities were established in laboratories at CSM as well as at the Mines Park Test Site located on the CSM campus. Field monitoring and system investigations have occurred at operating facilities in Colorado and at sites across the United States.

Findings of the SFP research are disseminated through published journal articles, conference papers, technical reports, and student theses as well as presentations at workshops, conferences, and public meetings.

As a culminating component of the SFP, a university course was developed and offered for the first time during the spring semester of 2006. The semester-long 3-credit course is available to juniors and seniors as well as graduate students. The course has been routinely delivered and is currently offered in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department (CEEN472-Onsite Water Reclamation and Reuse).

Small Flows Program Status

As is common for major academic research and educational programs, evolution occurs as a result of program goals and objectives being satisfied and faculty and staff transitions and retirements. Such was the case with the SFP at CSM with the scope and level of activity declining after 2015, about 20 years after the SFP was launched. This website was established as of December 2018 to provide a historical synopsis of the CSM SFP and a list of research and educational publications.

Research and educational activities continue at the CSM campus in areas relevant to sustainable water and sanitation including onsite and decentralized systems. Information concerning recent and current activities can be obtained by searching websites for CSM and the faculty and staff authors associated with the publications shown in the publications list.

Statement prepared January 11, 2019 by Bob Siegrist, Founding Director of the CSM Small Flows Program.

Robert L. Siegrist, PhD, PE, BCEE
University Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science and Engineering; Research Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado USA 80401
2770 Iliff Street, Boulder, Colorado USA 80305
Email: siegrist@mines.edu
Cell phone: 303.359.8427