Abstract: Effective water treatment is essential for producing safe drinking water, particularly for removing organic contaminants and naturally occurring dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can react during disinfection to form harmful byproducts. Understanding the underlying chemical processes involved in water treatment is greatly enhanced by the application of advanced analytical tools. Specifically, mass spectrometry (MS) provides valuable insights into the complexity of DOM and its transformation during drinking water treatment. This seminar will discuss how diUerent MS ionization techniques can provide a more comprehensive characterization of DOM. Application of these techniques has improved our understanding of DOM transformations in drinking water processes, including those induced by permanganate oxidation and chlorination. Moreover, expanding beyond the conventional analytical techniques has led to the discovery of previously unknown disinfection byproducts. These examples highlight how mass spectrometry not only advances our understanding of water treatment processes but also contributes to safer and more eUective practices.

Bio: Dr. Juliana (July) Laszakovits is a postdoctoral researcher at the ETH Zurich. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Mary Washington (2016) and earned her Ph.D. (2021) in Environmental Engineering from Ohio State University. Juliana is interested in expanding the applications of mass spectrometry to answer questions at the interface between water and public health.