The WATER Institute
Located in the City of St. Louis and at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, the Water Access, Technology, Environment and Resources (WATER) Institute at Saint Louis University is the first of its kind in the American Midwest. Inspired by the University’s Jesuit identity, the mission of the WATER Institute is to advance water innovation to serve humanity.
The Research
WATER Institute faculty investigators conduct interdisciplinary research that addresses critical water resource challenges while strengthening existing efforts across the University.
The research conducted at the WATER Institute focuses primarily on three critical areas:
- Addressing water-related social justice issues at home and around the world
- Protecting aquatic ecosystems
- Improving infrastructure to secure water supplies and address key societal needs
Saint Louis University’s location in the city of St. Louis at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers makes it an ideal setting for groundbreaking water research. The WATER Institute fills a significant need for urban water research in the United States, specifically, in the Midwest. The University’s Jesuit mission to serve humanity is also at the heart of the WATER Institute, whose findings will address public health issues and protect society from natural and human-made water-related disasters. The institute’s multifaceted, collaborative approach supports research with positive applications for local, national, and global communities – and their most vulnerable populations.
Examples of current projects led by researchers at the WATER Institute include:
- Testing water treatment technologies for use in developing nations to evaluate which are most effective for clean drinking water on the household level
- Determining the origin and amount of microplastic debris transported into river and groundwater systems
- Using machine learning to estimate the volume of water storage available in United States reservoirs
A Big Idea
The origins of Saint Louis University’s WATER Institute lie in an internal Big Ideas competition to define University-wide strategic research priorities.
SLU’s ability to invest in water-related research was greatly enhanced in 2018 when Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield made a historic $50 million gift that established the Saint Louis University Research Institute to accelerate research growth at the University.
The WATER Institute is the latest major initiative to earn support from the Research Institute. The Geospatial Institute (GeoSLU) launched in fall 2019, and the Advanced HEAlth Data (AHEAD) Research Institute launched in 2020.