Smart Phone Turbidimeter, Fall 2012

Abstract:

An open-source, low-cost turbidity meter.

The high cost of equipment to monitor water quality often puts valuable health tools out of reach for many communities in developing countries. Our low-cost device measures the turbidity, or "cloudiness", of water due to suspended particles, and can detect potentially dangerous concentrations of dirt in water -- even when they are invisible to the human eye! Our device integrates with a remote data-acquisition system to enable record keeping and real-time observation of water quality in rivers, wells, and treatment plant

Dissolved Organic Matter Sensor, Spring 2015

Andres Larraza

Abstract

The Fabrication Subteam was created to address problem that arose in the AguaClara plants that are in operation. The Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) sensor is a project that was created because in the plants in Honduras. DOM is a contaminant in the water that is present naturally due to leaves and other matter in the rivers being decomposed. The DOM in the water was affecting the required amount of coagulant needed to properly flocculate particulates in raw water by requiring more coagulant. The problem was that there was DOM present and we could not measure it properly. This semester, the objectives for the team are to have a working model that can use the RGB(red, green, and blue) values detected by the Arduino board to calculate the concentration of DOM in the water.. This is a first attempt that AguaClara is conducting

Sensor Development - Fall 2016

Andrea Pozo, Cheer Tsang, Grace Mitchell, Sidney Lok

Abstract:

The fall semester of 2016 marks the beginning of the Sensor Development subteam to AguaClara, which was created in response to the needs of the Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) and Anaerobic Fluidized Bed (AFB) subteams. This semester, the primary goals of this subteam were to develop a gas measurement sensor and a fluidized bed solids concentrator sensor for AguaClara plants. The subteam finalized a method of gas measurement, programmed settings in ProCoDa, and built four final product gas sensors for the AFB subteam. For the fluidized bed solids concentrator sensor, the subteam took measurements of the photosensor output and developed a method to correlate photosensor output to the existing intensity of fluidized solids.

Fabrication: Floc Hopper Probe - Spring 2016

Miguel Castellanos

Abstract:

The floc hopper probe is a devise that is meant to locate the height of the sludge blanket in the floc hopper of AguaClara water treatment plants. Teams in the past have conducted research and eventually fabricated a working probe prototype that was transported down to Honduras in January 2016. The probe was tested at different treatment plants in Honduras and showed promising results with minor complications. This semester, one of the main objectives is to re-size the probe in order to ensure that it is able to enter the PVC pipe port that is in the sedimentation tank channel system. Furthermore, the team will look into making the design more professional while keeping it cost effective.

Note: The final report for this subteam for this semester was not available and the final presentation is linked instead.

Sensor Development - Spring 2017

Cheer Tsang, Luna Oiwa, Jingfei Wang

Abstract:

This semester, the Sensor Development subteam modified and recalibrated the fluidized bed solids concentration sensor. This sensor enable the High Rate Sedimentation (HRS) team to determine the concentration of suspended clay particles in a running flocculation recirculator. In addition, the team fabricated a submersible sensor to determine the depth and concentration of the sludge layer in a sedimentation tank. This sensor functions in the same way as the fluidized bed solids concentration sensor, with the added characteristic that the photometer is fixed to the end of a PVC tube.

Sensor Development - Fall 2017

Grace Zhang, Lois Lee, Srilekha Vangavolu

Abstract:

The Fall 2017 Sensor Development team worked on redesigning and calibrating the fluidized bed solids detector to be used for testing concentration of suspended particles in floc blankets as well as the submersible sensor designed to measure the height of the sludge blanket in the sedimentation tank.

Please note, no research report could be located for this team and the final presentation is linked instead

Sensor Development - Fall 2018

Dana Owens, Lawrence Li, Lois Lee

Abstract:

The objective of the Sensor Development subteam is to develop sensors to monitor water quality during the water treatment process in Aguaclara plants. In previous semesters, the subteam developed a working prototype for an in-lab fluidized bed solids detector and also made progress towards prototyping a submersible sludge blanket detector. This semester the subteam also worked on finalizing a product-level version of the in-lab fluidized bed solids detector with a more intuitive user interface.The subteam will also work on finishing and determining the best prototype for the sludge blanket detector.