Water Treatment Technology Selection Guide – Spring 2014

Subhani Katugampala, Neelesh Bagga

Abstract:

This is the final research report of the Water Treatment Technology Selection Guide Team for Spring 2014. Our goal this semester was to design a selection guide that provides a clear rubric for evaluating and comparing water treatment technologies. A major part of this involved developing the framework and decision-making methodology for such a decision-support system. Current technology selection guides tend to focus on providing information on treatment technologies based on contaminant removal requirements, while ignoring the realities of resource-constraints and skill-constraints of communities, and without considering sustainable engineering practices. An expert guidance tool is needed to empower water supply professionals to make better decisions and to learn the constraints determine which technologies are appropriate.

Water Treatment Technology Selection Guide – Fall 2014

Yao Lu, Larissa Sakiyama, and Sarah Sinclair

Abstract:

The Water Treatment Technology Selection Guide Team seeks to build an attractive and functional web application that will allow parties interested in the construction of an AguaClara plant to compare various available treatment technologies and receive an estimate of plant costs. This semester’s team was tasked with integrating plant cost calculator (PCC) and water treatment technology selection guide (WTTSG) tools, improving the regression equations which provide cost estimates to the PCC, and synthesizing and incorporating information about various treatment plants into the application. The team worked to completely overhaul previous semesters’ web development work in order to pursue a design that embodies UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) principles. The new tool is highly interactive with a sleek, modern design, and is in the process of being deployed live as part of AguaClara’s web presence. The team has developed several regression equations useful for cost estimation, engaged in research related to plant cost and available treatment technologies, and made significant progress in the implementation of the WTTSG tool over the course of the semester.