Interests
Dr. Speitel's teaching interests include biological treatment processes, adsorption, microbiology, and treatment plant design. His research focuses on hazardous chemicals, especially biodegradation and adsorption as applied to the treatment of drinking water and ground water. Related areas of interest are formation and control of halogenated disinfection by-products, nitrification in water distribution systems, computer modeling of treatment processes, and optimal design of treatment processes. Recently funded research addresses formation of disinfection by-products in drinking water treatment during chloramination, cometabolism of trihalomethanes in drinking water biofilters and distribution systems, adsorption of arsenic on granular metal oxides, in situ biodegradation of perchlorate, and adsorption of formaldehyde in indoor air. For additional information, see Dr. Speitel's home page.

Education
B.S., Union College, Civil Engineering, 1976
M.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Environmental Engineering, 1979
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Environmental Engineering, 1985

Representative Publications

Speitel, G.E., Jr., Kannappan, R., and Bayer, B.M. "Nitrification Index: a Unified Concept for Quantifying the Risk of Distribution System Nitrification," Journal American Water Works Association, 103(1): 69-80, 2011.

Russell, C.G., Lawler, D.F., Speitel, G.E. Jr., and Katz, L.E. "Effect of Softening Precipitate Composition and Surface Characteristics on Natural Organic Matter Adsorption," Environmental Science and Technology, 43(20): 7873-7842, 2009.

Pope, P.G. and Speitel, G.E. Jr. "Reactivity of Bromine-Substituted Haloamines in Forming Haloacetic Acids," in Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water: Occurrence, Formation, Health Effects and Control, T. Karanfil, S.W. Krasner, P. Westerhoff, Y. Xie (eds.), ACS Symposium Series, 995, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2008.

Wahman, D.W., Katz, L.E., and Speitel, G.E. Jr. "Modeling of Trihalomethane Cometabolism in Nitrifying Biofilters," Water Research, 41(2): 449-457, 2006.

Pope, P.G., Speitel, G.E., Jr., and Collins, M.R. "DXAA Formation Kinetics during Chloramination," Journal American Water Works Association, 98 (11): 107-120, 2006.