Sartaj, Majid, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Professor, University of Ottawa
Registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario
Email: msartaj@uOttawa.ca
Dr. Majid Sartaj is a Professor of the Civil Engineering Department, University of Ottawa. He obtained his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from in 2001. After graduation he worked in consulting industry, where he was Project Engineer for the development of the first Engineered Landfill for the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia. He was then became a faculty member of Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, before joining University of Ottawa in 2011.
Dr. Sartaj’s research has been directed towards developing and optimizing sustainable solid waste management (SWM) technologies, with the main focus on Bioreactor Landfilling, Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas/Renewable energy production. Bioremediation of contaminated soils and reduction and removal of contaminants released by different industries and agricultural activities such heavy metals, cyanide and nitrate and modeling their fate and transport in the environment are among his other research topics of interest. He is actively collaborating with industry and many of his research projects are funded by industrial partners.
Dr. Sartaj is the author or co-author of numerous research publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, and one book chapter. He has supervised or co-supervised more than 50 graduate students (HQPs). Dr. Sartaj has been an active participant and organizer of several national and international conferences.
Research Interests:
Municipal and Industrial/Hazardous Solid Waste Management (Bioreactor Landfilling Technologies, Anaerobic Digestion, Biogas/Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) production)
Bioremediation of Contaminated Soils
Industrial Wastewater Treatment (Adsorption, Ion-Exchange, Chemical Precipitation, etc.)
Water Quality Modeling
Selected Recent Publications:
Babakhani and Sartaj (2020). Removal of Cadmium (II) from aqueous solution using tripolyphosphate cross-linked chitosan, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
Adghim et al. (2020). Comparative life cycle assessment of anaerobic Co-Digestion for dairy waste management in large-scale farms. Journal of Cleaner Production.
Mirahsani et al. (2020). Ammonia removal from aqueous solution by sodium functionalized graphene oxide: isotherm, kinetics, and thermodynamics, Desalination and Water Treatment.
Abtahi et al. (2020). Effect of competition between petroleum-degrading bacteria and indigenous compost microorganisms on the efficiency of petroleum sludge bioremediation: field application of mineral-based culture in the composting process. J. of Environmental Management.
Chartrand et al. (2020). Ammonia-Ca-K Competitive Ion-Exchange on Zeolites in Mining Wastewater Treatment: Batch Regeneration and Column Performance. Journal of Sustainable Mining.
Adghim et al. (2019). Assessment of the Biochemical Methane Potential of Mono- and Co-Digested Dairy Farm Wastes, Waste Management Research.
Mirahsani et al. (2019). Assessment and Optimization of Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN) Adsorption in Aqueous Phase by Sodium Functionalized Graphene Oxide using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy.
Razavi Termeh et al. (2019). Optimization of an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for groundwater potential mapping, Hydrogeology Journal.
Meskar et al. (2019). Assessment and Comparison of PHCs Removal from Three Types of Soils (sand, silt loam and clay) using Supercritical Fluid Extraction, Environmental Technology.
Meskar et al. (2018). Optimization of Operational Parameters of Supercritical Fluid Extraction for PHCs Removal from a Contaminated Sand using Response Surface Methodology, J. of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
Khosravi et al. (2018). A comparison study of DRASTIC methods with various objective methods for groundwater vulnerability assessment, Science of the Total Environment.
Akindele and Sartaj (2018). The toxicity effects of ammonia on anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste, Waste Management.
Dong and Sartaj (2016). Statistical Analysis and Optimization of Ammonia Removal from Landfill Leachate by Sequential Microwave/Aeration Process Using Factorial Design and Response Surface Methodology, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
Ara et al. (2015). Enhanced Biogas Production by Anaerobic Co-digestion from a Trinary Mix Substrate over a Binary Mix Substrate, Waste Management Research.
Ding and Sartaj (2015). Statistical analysis and optimization of ammonia removal from aqueous solution by zeolite using factorial design and response surface methodology, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
Nair et al. (2014). Enhancing biogas production from anaerobic biodegradation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste through leachate blending, Waste Management Research.
Gomez and Sartaj (2014). Optimization of Field Scale Biopiles for Bioremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil at Low Temperature Conditions by Response Surface Methodology (RSM), International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation.

The Status of Covid-19 in Urban Areas via Monitoring Municipal Wastewater

Majid Sartaj, PhD, Peng,
Professor, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus Outbreak 2019 (COVID-19) has caused worldwide concern and has affected all aspects of human life. Many urban regions have struggled to keep up with testing individuals for Covid-19. One potential alternative employed by many communities is to collect and analyze samples from municipal wastewater to assess and track the spread and occurrence of Covid-19, and potentially identify regions where disease incidences is increasing. This could help decision-makers to plan accordingly. Recent research findings on monitoring and surveillance of Covid-19 through sampling and analysis of municipal wastewater are reviewed and presented here.

Keywords: COVID-19, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Municipal Wastewater.