Dr. Charles B. Bott joined Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) in 2009 and is the Director of Water Technology and Research. He manages technology innovation and research and development for HRSD’s eighteen wastewater treatment plants (225 MGD combined capacity) and collection/conveyance systems. Dr. Bott is also an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University. He was formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and a consulting engineer with Parsons Engineering Science. Dr. Bott has a BS in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute, a MS in Environmental Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech. He is a Fellow of the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and a former member (Virginia gubernatorial appointee) of the Science and Technology Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council. Dr. Bott is a Professional Engineer in Virginia, a Board Certified Environmental Engineer, and a licensed Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator – Virginia Class I.
He is a current member of the National Science Foundation Engineering Directorate Advisory Committee, a two-time winner of the WEF Harrison Prescott Eddy Medal for outstanding contribution to wastewater principles/processes research, a previous member of the WEF Board of Trustees, and a past co-chair of The Water Research Foundation and WEF Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT) program. Charles’ technical interests include municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, as well as renewable energy generation and resource efficiency. He has specific expertise in the areas of chemical and biological phosphorus removal, denitrification with alternative carbon sources, nitrification kinetics, nutrient recovery, deammonification/anammox, biological treatment process modeling and design, and biogas conditioning. Important areas of focus are mainstream shortcut nitrogen removal, processes for biological treatment intensification, and technologies for potable reuse.