Dr. Kerry J. Howe

Ph.D., P.E., BCEE

Associate Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM 87131-1351

phone:    505-277-2702

fax:          505-277-1988

email:    howe@unm.edu

Kerry Howe is an associate professor in the Civil Engineering Department at UNM.  His areas of specialty include environmental engineering, physical and chemical processes for water and waste treatment, desalination, membrane processes for environmental treatment (including microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis), water chemistry, and engineering design.

Current research projects are investigating the use of membranes in water and wastewater applications, including the fouling of reverse osmosis membrane when used for tertiary wastewater treatment for indirect potable reuse applications, selective recovery and beneficial use of salts and minerals from desalination concentrate, increasing the recovery of reverse osmosis by minimizing scaling, removal of fluoride from groundwater using aluminum coagulation and membrane filtration, and removal of pharmaceuticals during tertiary wastewater treatment using either reverse osmosis or ozone/biofiltration.

Dr. Howe is a registered professional engineer and a board certified environmental engineer (BCEE) by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers.  Prior to studying for his doctorate degree, Dr. Howe worked for environmental engineering consulting firms for more than 12 years.  During his time in consulting, he worked as project engineer or project manager on a wide variety of projects related to water treatment engineering, including treatability studies, regulatory compliance evaluations, facility evaluations, master plans, pilot studies, predesign, detailed design, construction management, and plant startup.  His practical engineering experience has a strong influence on his research and teaching activities.

He is a co-author of the textbook Water Treatment: Principles and Design.

Educational Background

Courses Taught

Awards

Golden Spigot Award, American Water Works Association, Water Quality and Technology Division (for service in furthering the division's mission and goals), 2007.

Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, UNM School of Engineering, 2006.

Outstanding Young Investigator Award, UNM Chapter of Sigma Xi, 2004.

Honor Award for University Research, Excellence in Environmental Engineering competition, American Academy of Environmental Engineers (for doctoral dissertation), 2002.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Nguyen, A.H., J.E., Tobiason, and K.J. Howe.  “Fouling indices for low pressure hollow fiber membrane performance assessment.” Water Research.  Vol. 45, No. 8, pp.  2627-2637.  2011.   (Click for reprint)

Higgin, R., K.J. Howe, and T.M. Mayer.  “Synergistic Behavior between Silica and Alginate:  Novel Approach for Removing Silica Scale from RO Membranes.”  Desalination, Vol. 250, No. 1, pp.  76-81.  2010.  (Click for reprint)

Chen, D., K.J. Howe, J. Dallman, and B.C. Letellier.  “Corrosion of Aluminum in the Aqueous Chemical Environment of a Loss of Coolant Accident at a Nuclear Power Plant.”  Corrosion Science.  Vol. 50, No. 4, pp.  1046-1057.  April, 2008.  (Click for reprint)

Chen, D., K.J. Howe, J. Dallman, B.C. Letellier, M. Klasky, J. Leavitt, and B.P. Jain.  “Experimental Analysis of the Aqueous Chemical Environment Following a Loss-of-coolant Accident.”  Nuclear Engineering and Design.  Vol. 237, No. 20-21, pp. 2126-2136.  November, 2007.  (Click for reprint)

Howe, K.J., A. Marwah, K-P. Chiu, and S. Adham.  “Effect of Membrane Configuration on Bench-scale MF and UF Fouling Experiments.”  Water Research.  Vol. 41, No. 17, pp. 3842-3849.  September, 2007.  (Click for reprint)

Ghosh, A.K., K.J. Howe, A.K. Maji, B. Letellier, R. Johns, and T-Y. Chang.  “Head Loss Characteristics of a Fibrous Bed in a Chemical Environment.”  Journal of Nuclear Technology.  Vol. 157, No. 2, pp. 196-207.  February, 2007.  (Click for reprint)

Howe, K.J., A. Marwah, K-P. Chiu, and S. Adham.  “Effect of Coagulation on the Size of MF and UF Membrane Foulants."  Environmental Science and Technology.  Vol. 40, No. 24, pp. 7908-7913.  December 15, 2006.  (Click for reprint)

Howe, K.J. and M.M. Clark.  “Effect of Coagulation Pretreatment on Membrane Filtration Performance.”  Journal of the American Water Works Association.   Vol. 98, No. 4, pp. 133-146.  April, 2006.  (Click for reprint)

AWWA Membrane Technology Research Committee (primary authors I.C. Escobar, E.M. Hoek, C.J Gabelich, F.A. DiGiano, Y.A. Le Gouellec, P. Berube, and K.J. Howe).  “Committee Report:  Recent Advances and Research Needs in Membrane Fouling.”  Journal of the American Water Works Association.  Vol. 97, No. 8, pp. 79-89.  August, 2005.  (Click for reprint)

Koh, M., M.M. Clark, and K.J. Howe.  “Filtration of Lake Natural Organic Matter:  Adsorption Capacity of a Polypropylene Microfilter.”  Journal of Membrane Science.  Vol. 254, No. 1-2, pp. 169-175.  July, 2005.  (Click for reprint)

Howe, K.J. and M.M. Clark.  “Fouling of Microfiltration and Ultrafiltration Membranes by Natural Waters.”  Environmental Science and Technology.  Vol. 36, No. 16, pp. 3571-3576.  August 15, 2002.  (Click for reprint)

Howe, K.J. K.P. Ishida, and M.M. Clark.  “Use of ATR/FTIR Spectrometry to Study Fouling of Microfiltration Membranes by Natural Waters.”  Desalination.  Vol. 147, No. 1-3, pp. 251-255.  September 10, 2002.  (Click for reprint)

Recent Reports and Books

Lee, C.O., K.J. Howe, and B.M. Thomson.  Ozone and Biofiltration as an Alternative to Reverse Osmosis for Removing PPCPs and EDCs from Wastewater. Final Report, New Mexico Environment Department, Albuquerque, NM.  May 19, 2010.  (Click for report)

Field, E.L., K.J. Howe, and B.M. Thomson.  Effect of Solids Retention Time in Membrane Bioreactors on Reverse Osmosis Fouling. Final Report, New Mexico Environment Department, Albuquerque, NM.  April 9, 2010.  (Click for report)

Lee, C.O., K.J. Howe, and B.M. Thomson.  State of Knowledge of Pharmaceutical, Personal Care Product, and Endocrine Disrupting Compound Removal During Wastewater Treatment. Final Report, New Mexico Environment Department, Albuquerque, NM,  64 p.  April, 2009.  (Click for report)

Membrane treatment for drinking water and reuse applications : a compendium of peer-reviewed papers.  Kerry J. Howe, Ed.,  American Water Works Association: Denver, CO,  2006.  (Ordering information)

Adham, S., K-P. Chiu, G. Lehman, K. Howe, A. Marwah, C. Mysore, J. Clouet, Z. Do-Quang, and O. Cagnard.  Optimization of Membrane Treatment for Direct and Clarified Water Filtration.  AWWARF:  Denver, CO.  2006.   (Description) (Ordering information)

Crittenden, J.C., R.R. Trussell, D.H. Hand, K.J. Howe, and G. Tchobanoglous.  Water Treatment Principles and Design, 2nd ed.  John Wiley and Sons, New York.  ISBN 0-471-11018-3.  2005.  (Ordering information)

Howe, K.J. and M.M. Clark.  Coagulation Pretreatment for Membrane Filtration.  AWWA and AWWARF:  Denver, CO.  ISBN 1-58321-265-5  2002.   (Description)  (Ordering information)

Presentations in 2010-2011

Howe, K.J., J. Goldman, and B.M. Thomson.  “Selective Recovery of Desalination Concentrate Salts Using Interstage Ion Exchange.”  proceedings of the AWWA Membrane Technology Conference, Long Beach, CA, March 28-31, 2011.

Howe, K.J.  "Designing and Building a Sustainable Future."  ASCE Albuquerque Chapter Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, March 4, 2011.

Howe, K.J.  "Designing and Building a Sustainable Future."  Bryant W. Lemon Distinguished Lecture, Albuquerque, NM, February 24, 2011.

Howe, K.J., C.O. Lee, and B.M. Thomson.  “Ozone and Biofiltration as an Alternative to Reverse Osmosis for Removing PPCPs from Wastewater,” proceedings of the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL, June 20-24, 2010.

Howe, K.J., J. Goldman, and B.M. Thomson.  “Selective Recovery of Desalination Concentrate Salts Using Interstage Ion Exchange.”  proceedings of the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL, June 20-24, 2010.