Group MembersAidan, Amanda, Brendan, Byron, Cade, and Ronan |
Chemical EngineeringChemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with chemical production and the manufacturing of products through chemical processes. This includes designing equipment, systems and processes for refining raw materials and for mixing, compounding and processing chemicals to make valuable products. We used chemical engineering when creating ideas for our water treatment system. We had to think about which chemical processes could be used to clean storm drain water. |
ResearchThe first step we took during this project was research. We researched different types of water treatment systems and filtration systems. We used this research to later formulate our ideas of a water treatment that would be both functional and effective at cleaning storm drain water and putting it to use as greywater inside of toilet bowls and sprinklers. |
Essay WritingRonan took on the bulk of the essay writing. He wrote down all of the teams different ideas and quickly put together paragraphs. He was guided by Byron, Amanda, and Brendan as they continued to research water treatment sytems and refine our ideas for our own sytem. |
Design and SketchUpAidan took on the actual design with advice from Cade. Using the application, SketchUp, we were able to create a 3d model of our water treatment sytem. Research that had prevously been conducted helped steadily guide the creation of our 3D model. |
System DesignOur water filtration system has three main tasks:
The filtration system first filters out solids with metal grates. Then, the water is passed to a UV filter that kills harmful bacteria and viruses. This module is especially important becasue it would be easy to spred disease to a whole community with contaminated water. Next, the water is taken to an activated carbon filter that filters out industrial pollutants, organic matter, and pesticides. After filtration, the water is taken to a series of 55 gallon holding tanks where they are stored for a maximum of 24 hrs (greywater is only usable for that time). The water is tested for a number of factors: pH level, fecal contamination, and turbidity. If it's safe to use, then the water is pumped from the tanks up to toilets and sprinkler systems. |