UASB - Spring 2020

Emily Liu, Emily Wood, Lydia LaGorga, Katrina Chen, Winnie Chan

Abstract:

The Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) team has been designing, fabricating, and testing a gravity-powered wastewater treatment system for communities seeking an alternative to releasing waste directly into streams and rivers. A reactor with pulsed flow was installed at the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility (IAWWTF) in Fall 2019, and sludge granules were added to initiate organic decomposition. The Spring 2020 subteam began monitoring pH, biogas accumulation, and sludge blanket height on a regular basis, and implemented a system to control reactor temperature. When the reactor completes its startup phase, the subteam will begin monitoring its performance with Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) tests.

StaRS Filter Theory - Spring 2020

Wenjie Lu, Claire Kenwood, Kelly Ly, Valentina Dai

Abstract:

StaRS (Stacked Rapid Sand) Filtration is crucial to the water treatment process. As one of the last steps in AguaClara’s water treatment, StaRS filters are responsible for removing the last of the unwanted particles. In order to operate effectively under EPA standards, the filters must reduce the turbidity to 0.3 NTU or less. In efforts to better refine the AguaClara filters, variables such as grain size, the height of the active zone, coagulant dosage will be tested in order to increase the failure time. At the beginning of experimentation, the Fall 2019 StaRS sub-team will focus specifically on the grain size.

Sensor Development - Spring 2020

Sonu Kapoor, Saul Bernaber, Rishik Zaparde

Abstract:

Sensor Development's goal is to develop affordable sensors with readily available materials to monitor and report water quality in the water treatment processes in AguaClara plants and labs. In Spring 2020, the subteam tested two projects from Fall 2019 - the Submersible Sludge Blanket Detector, which is meant for the floc hopper, and the low-cost turbidimeter to measure dissolved organics.