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Mitch Duffner with bioassaying flashing LED lights, mimicking midge wingbeat frequencies at Alum Creek Water Reclamation Facility.
Mitch Duffner with bioassaying flashing LED lights, mimicking midge wingbeat frequencies at Alum Creek Water Reclamation Facility.

 

Ever wonder what happens to the water when it goes down the drain or toilet? Eventually, it ends up at a water reclamation facility, where it is filtered, cleansed and converted back into water that can be used for other purposes, such as agricultural irrigation, replenishing surface and ground water, and sometimes conversion back into drinking water.

Water reclamation facilities are equipped with many huge holding tanks that collect, filter out and process waste. This provides an ideal home—cozy indoor facilities with plenty of sludge food on the menu!—for pest midge flies.

To help combat pestiferous midges, two Ohio University Biological Sciences faculty, Dr. Bekka Brodie and Dr. Kelly Johnson, put together a team of undergraduate researchers supported through the Delaware County Board of Commissioners, Rush Elliot Funds, and Ohio University George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service.