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Monday, September 26, 2011

A Performance Evaluation of a UASB Reactor and a Facultative Pond to Determine the Feasibility of Reusing Wastewater for Irrigation AND Laboratory Assessment of Four Point-of-Use Water Treatment Filters Designed for Households in Developing Countries

Matthew E. Verbyla, M.Sc. Candidate
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida

According to the United Nations 2011 Millennium Development Goals Report the percentage of undernourished people in the developing world has remained relatively stagnant during the past decade, despite significant reductions in poverty. The world is also far from meeting the sanitation target, with almost half of the population in developing regions without access to improved sanitation. In order to increase food production to meet rising demands in the developing world, many farmers use wastewater (treated and untreated) for irrigation. The use of inadequately-treated wastewater for irrigation greatly increases the risk of transmission of excreta-related diseases, especially for vulnerable groups such as those living in extreme poverty. Instead of focusing on the removal of traditional physical-chemical parameters from wastewater with the ultimate goal of discharging to surface waters, wastewater treatment in developing countries should be centered on the removal of human pathogens, with the ultimate goal of safe reuse. The reuse of wastewater for irrigation is very important, especially in certain regions of of the world experiencing water stress. This presentation will focus on a recent study comparing the pathogen removal and the performance of two waste stabilization pond systems in Bolivia which utilize different methods of primary treatment: an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and a facultative pond. The goal of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of reuse for irrigation in accordance with the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines.

Biography
Mr. Verbyla graduated from Lafayette College in 2006 with a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and is now pursuing an M.S. in Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. Mr. Verbyla is a LEED Green Associate and a Project Engineer at HRP Associates, Inc. and has several years of consulting experience on a wide range of wastewater, solid waste, potable water, and stormwater projects. Mr. Verbyla spent two and a half years studying, working, and volunteering in rural developing and urban slum communities of Central and South America, and is fluent in Spanish and conversational in Portuguese. He was also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in 2007, where he studied the effects of decentralization policies on the sustainability of rural water systems in Honduras. His current research focuses on wastewater reuse and the removal of pathogens in wastewater treatment systems in developing communities of the world. Mr. Verbyla can be contacted at verbylam@mail.usf.com. 


Laboratory Assessment of Four Point-of-Use Water Treatment Filters Designed for Households in Developing Countries


Sarah Ness
Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida


According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme, 884 billion people do not have access to improved sources of drinking water.  Household water treatment technologies, termed point-of-use (POU) technologies, have been developed in an effort to solve this problem and improve peoples’ access to clean and safe drinking water.  

A laboratory assessment is evaluating the effectiveness of four POU treatment technologies that utilize physical filtration methods.  The two clay ceramic filters are further being evaluated in longer term field studies. Three of the systems, Potters for Peace, Filter Pure, and Tulip filters, are ceramic filters that treat water through filtration and also disinfect the water through the use of impregnated or coated silver.  The Potters for Peace (PFP) filter is a flower pot-shaped, 8 liter (L) ceramic filter with a silver coating.  The Filter Pure (FP) filter is a rounded-bottom lemon-juicer shaped, 7 L ceramic filter with silver fired into the ceramic.  The Tulip filter is a submersible candle-type ceramic filter that uses siphon pressure to push water through the filter element, which includes silver impregnated into the ceramic.  The fourth filter included in this evaluation is the LifeStraw Family (LS) filter, which utilizes ultrafiltration and water disinfection through chlorination.  

In the laboratory, flow rates, turbidity removal, total suspended solids (TSS) removal, coliform removal, and E. coli removal have been measured.  All four filter types have been tested using natural pond water.  Additionally, the PFP and FP ceramic filters have filtered tap water to simulate rain water, while the Tulip filters and LS filters have filtered a synthetic water that incorporates silica sand to simulate varying levels of natural turbid surface waters.  Particle size distribution analysis was also performed on waters associated with the Tulip and LS filters.  

Preliminary results are suggesting that none of the POU filters are functioning at the full operational levels reported by their respective manufacturers.  The Tulip filters are removing turbidity, TSS, coliforms, and E.coli and are flowing at the expected flow rate of 4-5 L/hour if the filter unit is functioning without a quality control error.  However, several of the Tulip filters are appearing to deteriorate in effluent water quality before the expected 7,000 L end-of-life reported by the manufacturer.  In contrast, the FP, PFP, and LS filters are removing the predicted coliforms and E.coli, as well as turbidity and TSS.  However, none are performing at the expected flow rates.  Laboratory results show that both filters are operating around 0.2-0.5 L/hour.  In addition, the LS filters are not performing at the expected flow rate of 12-15 L/hour, as claimed by the manufacturer.  Continued laboratory results and field measurements of the two clay ceramic filters will be reported in this presentation.  This will allow for further analysis to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of the four POU filters.

Sarah Ness is a graduate student at the University of South Florida.  She is part of the Peace Corps Master’s International program and is studying Environmental Engineering.  Sarah’s B.S. degree is in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park and she has water and wastewater treatment experience from working at Gannett Fleming consulting firm.  The focus of Sarah’s research is water and wastewater treatment with an emphasis on sustainability and appropriate technology for developing countries.  

Thursday, September 15, 2011

THE REVOLUTIONARY WATER CYCLE OF THE 21st CENTURY

Seminar on Monday September 19th, 2011


Avner Adin, D.Sc., Dipl.-Ing., BCEEM
Lunenfeld-Kunin Chair Professor of Environmental Sciences,
Head of Water Treatment Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Visiting Professor, Patel School of Global Sustainability,
USF, Tampa, Fl., USA

Planet Earth is facing growing shortage of water supply due to climate change and population growth. Not water quantity, but inadequate water quality and water transport energy are limiting factors (“Water-Energy Nexus”). In addition to water restrictions, Israel's and Singapore’s strategy focuses on massive New Water generation through water reuse and seawater and brackish water desalination. A new concept of the Revolutionary Water Cycle is proposed, presenting us - researchers, water suppliers, industrialists, economists, sociologists and decision makers – with big challenges, e.g. blending different water qualities in the supply system, changing flow directions in existing infrastructure, innovative technologies in water and energy and corresponding drinking water quality standards.

Avner Adin (1943) is an internationally known environmental engineer who combines teaching, research, innovation and engineering practice in the field of water treatment, wastewater reuse and water security and safety. Chair of Israel's Drinking Water Standards Committee and Central Committee on Water of the Israeli Institute of Standards, Member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Management Team Member of the multi-group SWITCH Project (EU).  He has been the Founder and Past-President of the Israeli Water Association, Board Member of Waterfronts-Israeli Water Union and SWITCH Project (EU) and representing Israel in IWA and WEF. adin@vms.huji.ac.il

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Ion exchange strategies along the water lifecycle

Ion exchange strategies along the water lifecycle

Treavor Boyer, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences
University of Florida

Access to clean water is a critical social, environmental, and economic challenge for the 21st century. Our vision is to develop robust ion exchange approaches to the treatment of water at various stages in its lifecycle so as to maximize water conservation, recover valuable materials, sequester harmful contaminants, minimize the production of waste byproducts, and advance the water-energy nexus. This presentation will highlight recent research in our group that uses ion exchange to recover phosphorus from natural systems, selectively remove groups of chemical contaminants during drinking water treatment, minimize the volume of waste residuals produced by membrane processes, and improve the function of waterless urinals. These topics are of intrinsic importance to water supply planning and wastewater management, and also encapsulate the key technical issues for a number of different water recycling strategies. The insights developed from the ion exchange research presented here are expected to lead to exciting new ideas for treatment and beneficial uses of water at various stages in its lifecycle.




















Dr. Treavor Boyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida. He joined the faculty in 2008 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Boyer completed his M.S. in environmental engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his B.S. in chemical engineering at the University of Florida. The focus of Dr. Boyer¹s research is aquatic chemistry and water treatment. The long-term goals of his research program are (i) to understand the effect of DOM on physical, chemical, and biological processes and (ii) to apply the principles of ion exchange to natural and engineered systems. Website: Treavor Boyer's Webpage