Engineering Commons^™

Investigating Pilot Scale Performance Of An Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment System With A High Rate Anaerobic Side Stream Reactor, Aaron Brennan

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

The anaerobic side stream reactor (ASSR) process was continuously operated and tested as a pilot scale system, treating 500 gallons of raw wastewater per day. Addition of an ASSR to a conventional activated sludge (CAS) system has been shown to reduce overall waste sludge generation in previous bench scale experiments. This study aimed to specifically test the feasibility of the ASSR process at the pilot scale while comparing it to a full scale CAS plant. The ASSR process differs from the similar Cannibal® process in that it utilizes an SRT in the side stream reactor of only 2 days rather …

Evaluation Of Second-Stage Contactor Media For Manganese Removal, Jonathan Chihoski

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

The focus of this research was to determine the performance of different types of media for a post-filter second-stage contactor for the removal of manganese from a drinking water source. The Aquarion Water Company’s Lantern Hill (LH) water treatment facility in Stonington, CT served as the motivation for this study. The groundwater at this site contains significant concentrations of manganese, averaging 0.2 mg/L, as well as iron, 2.3 mg/L, and total organic carbon (TOC), 3.5 mg/L. Currently, the Lantern Hill facility is using a combination of pH adjustment, potassium permanganate, chlorine, and cationic polymer addition prior to down flow through …

Hydrologic Forecasts And Adaptation To Climate Change In The Northeast Water Sector, Sarah Whateley

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Innovative approaches are needed for improving water resources management and decisionmaking under hydroclimatic uncertainty. Presently, water resource management and infrastructure design relies on an assumption of stationarity, the notion that ‘natural systems fluctuate within an unchanging envelope of variability’ (Milly et al., 2008). However, the need to reexamine this paradigm has proliferated in recent literature due to alterations in the hydrologic landscape (Pahl-Wostl, 2007; Peel and Bloschl, 2011). Sustainable management of water resource systems is becoming increasingly difficult as a result of intensification of anthropogenic disturbances, channel modifications, land-cover changes, and future uncertainty in climate change and variability. As we …

Developing A Watershed-Level Protocol For Choosing Indicator Compounds For Edcs/Ppcps Using Analytical Methods And Chemometrics, Varun N. Srinivasan

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Numerous studies have reported the presence of several endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP) in wastewater effluents and consequently in natural water sources which serve as source water for drinking water utilities. However it is still unclear as to which of these compounds are important and need to be monitored. This paper proposes a new approach to identify indicators or surrogates to monitor these compounds in a watershed based on intensive sampling, analytical methods and statistical analysis. The watershed-level protocol involves identifying common patterns of occurrence in these trace chemicals and proposes indicators based on …

Assessment Of Iron And Manganese Sequestration, Danielle Volpe

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

For drinking water with low to moderate levels of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) (at or somewhat above the SMCL), sequestration is a less expensive treatment alternative compared to metal oxidation and removal. Sequestration complexes Fe and Mn to prevent precipitation and subsequent water quality problems (turbidity, color, staining, etc.). Despite the widespread use of sequestering agents, research has not resulted in a successful method to directly assess the complexation of Mn and Fe. This study was conducted to develop a method for assessing sequestering agent effectiveness and to assess the effectiveness of several phosphate based sequestering agents for several …

Assessment Of Iron And Manganese Sequestration, Danielle Volpe

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

For drinking water with low to moderate levels of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) (at or somewhat above the SMCL), sequestration is a less expensive treatment alternative compared to metal oxidation and removal. Sequestration complexes Fe and Mn to prevent precipitation and subsequent water quality problems (turbidity, color, staining, etc.). Despite the widespread use of sequestering agents, research has not resulted in a successful method to directly assess the complexation of Mn and Fe. This study was conducted to develop a method for assessing sequestering agent effectiveness and to assess the effectiveness of several phosphate based sequestering agents for several …

Evaluation Of Effluent Organic Nitrogen And Its Impacts On Receiving Water Bodies, Dongke Yu

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This research characterizes different wastewater treatment plant effluent nitrogen species in order to further understand the organic fraction of effluent nitrogen. Four effluents from biological nutrient removal (BNR) treatment and conventional activated sludge (CAS) treatment processes were investigated. Proteomic tools were applied in characterizing effluent protein. The protein profiles show the presence of active enzymes in all effluents and the organic nitrogen in the BNR effluent is more diverse than that in the CAS effluent, especially in the size range of 50-75 kDa. Size fractionation of the effluents suggests that over 70% of the effluent protein is soluble and most …

Remote Sensing Models Of Algal Blooms And Cyanobacteria In Lake Champlain, Adam Trescott

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

We developed empirical remote sensing models to estimate chlorophyll a concentrations and cyanobacteria synoptically, over a large inland lake using available Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data. In contrast to previous studies which rely on the spectral characteristics of the cyanobacterial specific pigment, phycocyanin, we developed remote sensing models capable of directly detecting cyanobacterial biovolume. This distinction is important because Landsat ETM+ data lacks the spectral band information required for optimal phycocyanin detection. Each model was calibrated and cross-validated with existing in situ measurements from Lake Champlain’s Long-Term Water Quality and Biological Monitoring Program (LTMP). Lake station measurements taken …

Development Of A Cost Minimizing Strategy To Mitigate Bird Mortalities In A Wind Farm, Karamvir Singh

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Wind is the second largest renewable energy source after solar. It is one of the fastest growing sources of electricity in the world and currently of wind energy is installed in the United States and an additional is under construction (Office of Energy and Environment Affairs, 2011). For the growth of wind electricity, one of the most prominent environmental concerns relates to the death of birds, bats and other avian species resulting from collision with turbine blades.

This thesis develops a model that provides the optimal strategy of turning the turbines off in a wind farm for certain periods to …