William (Bill) B. Anderson

Photo of William (Bill) B. Anderson

Associate Professor NSERC Industrial Research Chair, Water Treatment Waterloo, Ontario wbanders@uwaterloo.ca

Bio/Research

As the Associate Director of the Water Science, Technology & Policy Research Group, William B. Anderson collaborates with the group’s Director, Monica B. Emelko, to develop and manage a variety of drinking water associated research initiatives. Our group’s goals are to understand fundamental wate...

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Bio/Research

As the Associate Director of the Water Science, Technology & Policy Research Group, William B. Anderson collaborates with the group’s Director, Monica B. Emelko, to develop and manage a variety of drinking water associated research initiatives. Our group’s goals are to understand fundamental water science, investigate and promote innovative emerging treatment technologies, and lead in the development of policy that is impactful for industry and society. Professor Anderson has been immersed in the field of interdisciplinary drinking water treatment research for 39 years.

He served on the NSF International Joint Committee on Drinking Water Treatment Units for 12 years during which time he co-chaired a task group which developed a new standard for pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and endocrine disrupting compounds (NSF 401). He also contributed to the development of standards for the removal of the cyanotoxin, microcystin-LR, by activated carbon adsorption and for the perfluorinated compounds including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). Additionally, he represented academia on stakeholders and reviewers groups charged with the revision and update of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment ‘Design Guidelines for Drinking-Water Systems’ and the ‘Optimization Guidance Manual for Drinking Water Systems’ manual.

Professor Anderson has various research interests that relate to source water characterization, drinking water treatment, and the protection of human health. Currently, he is investigating detection and removal technologies for pathogens, toxins, and chemicals in drinking water. Some examples include: investigating a better understanding of the development of biofilms in biological filters during start-up, identifying critical operational control points and strategies to minimize microbial risk, protozoan removal through filtration in high quality surface waters, activated carbon for cyanotoxin removal (anatoxin-a, cylindrospermopsin, microcystin), and characterization of natural organic matter (NOM) in water and technologies for removal.


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Media Relations

Rebecca (Becky) Elming
Director, Media Relations and Issues Management
(647) 459-8313
relming@uwaterloo.ca