Water quality is one of the most pressing issues for Oklahomans. Hence, wastewater is being reused to increase water availability. However, wastewater treatment plants do not remove all contaminants in wastewater which makes it unsuitable to reuse without further treatment. For example, antibiotics can go up to 85% undigested through the human body and persist in wastewater effluent. Ethylene cross bridged tetraazomamacrocycle catalysts are a potential treatment option to eliminate these contaminants to enable safe and efficient water reuse. The overall goal of this project was to analyze the extent that antibiotics can degrade with the help of catalysts.

Findings from this work allow for safe reuse of wastewater that can provide Oklahomans with water for drinking as well as irrigation. In addition, these findings also address growing concerns of antibiotic resistance, a major public health threat.