Team:Charlottesville RS/Project/Applications

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Moores Creek Wastewater Treatement Plant

Overview

The Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is managed by the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority. The purpose of the water treatment plant is to use bacteria to purify waste water so it can be released back to the public. The bacteria process the waste and by extension purify the water. However, these bacteria need food, so every year the plant purchases $250,000 worth of food in order to feed these bacteria. Our idea is to use different bacteria to produce a bioplastic called PHB, which the bacteria that purify the waste water could use as food, and thus save the city $250,000 on the Moores plant and potentially apply to other WWTPs around the country.

How Water Treatment Plants Work

Primary disinfection occurs within the water treatment facility to kill or inactivate harmful viruses, bacteria, and microbial matter that may be in the water when it is pumped from the environment into the treatment plant. GAC (Granular Activated Carbon-pure carbon heated to promote "active" sites which can adsorb pollutants) removes trace organic matter remaining in the water after conventional filtration, thereby providing less matter for the free chlorine to react with to form disinfection byproducts

The technology behind ET-1 Activated Clay is a sodiumbentonite modified to be hydrophobic and selectively oleophilic; essentially repelling water and seeking organics. A pure modified clay, not blended with anthracite coal or other fillers like other filtration media, ET-1 is designed for use in liquid phase filtration vessels. Functioning on the principle of adsorption through Ionic Bonding, ET-1 encapsulates organic molecules, trapping them in the platelets of the clay through this attraction.