Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Into The Presence, Persistence, And Fate Of S. Aureus, And Its Mobile Genetic Elements, In Wastewater And The Surrounding Environment, Atena Amirsoleimani

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Currently, the world is engaged in a battle against very small parts of our environment that develop and share genes for resistance to multiple environmental conditions. Pathogenic infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been impacting animal and human health and life. Increasing incidences of methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections transmitted through the environment are rising faster than the discovery of new antibiotics. Multi-drug resistant S. aureus infections in healthy individuals without prior hospitalization have been increasing all around the world.

Many people carry S. aureus in their nose and on their skin, common niches for the bacteria to co-grow …

Soil Bulk Density Effects On Runoff Estimation, Colton Pugh

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Urbanization has long been a major factor in the hydrology of surrounding areas. Engineers are commonly tasked with mitigating the extra runoff that urbanization brings with it. The NRCS Curve Number (CN) method is a commonly-used approach to predicting the amount of runoff that will be experienced from a given area. However, this method is known to be highly simplified in model of the processes involved. This study focused on determining the relationships between soil bulk density, simulated rainfall events, hydrologic soil group (HSG) and runoff estimation (specifically via the NRCS CN method). It was determined that soil bulk density …

Quantifying Nitrogen Fate In Karst Agroecosystem Streams Of Central Kentucky: Development And Application Of Numerical Modeling And Insight From High-Resolution Sensors, Nolan Lewis Bunnell

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

In-stream fate of nutrients in karst agroecosystems remains poorly understood, despite the known impact of karst on water resources at local to global scales. In the Inner-Bluegrass region of central Kentucky, heterogeneity of karst maturity, flow pathways, and nutrient sources adds to the complexity of quantifying nutrient dynamics, thus requiring novel monitoring and modeling approaches. The significance of these streams is recognized given spring/surface water confluences have been identified as hotspots for biogeochemical transformations. In slow-moving streams high in dissolved inorganic nutrients (particularly dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP)), benthic and floating aquatic macrophytes are recognized to …

Improving Air Pollution Exposure Estimation Using Cell Phone Location Data And Low-Cost Sensors, Xiaonan Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Human exposure estimation to air pollution plays an important role in epidemiological studies which are designed to reveal correlations between human exposures to certain air pollutants and certain diseases, such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and reproductive diseases. Traditionally, when people's mobile data is hard to get, home location is used to estimate people's exposures assuming that people stay at home all the time. Whereas, people move and it is more accurate to estimate people's exposures including people's mobility. In our study, we showcased two methods to obtain people's mobile data: Google Maps location history (GMLH) data and Call Detailed Record …

Historical Trends In Air Temperature, Precipitation, And Runoff Of A Plateau Inland River Watershed In North China, Along Zhang, Ruizhong Gao, Xixi Wang, Tingxi Liu, Lijing Fang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Understanding historical trends in temperature, precipitation, and runoff is important but incomplete for developing adaptive measures to climate change to sustain fragile ecosystems in cold and arid regions, including the Balagaer River watershed on the Mongolian Plateau of northeast China. The objective of this study was to detect such trends in this watershed from 1959 to 2017. The detection was accomplished using a Mann-Kendall sudden change approach at annual and seasonal time scales. The results indicated that the abrupt changes in temperature preceded that in either runoff or precipitation; these abrupt changes occurred between 1970 and 2004. Significant (α = …

Evaluation Of 1-D And 2-D Hydraulic Models For Designing And Assessing Fullspan Stream Crossings, Alyssa Sachiko Virgil

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project compared design decisions and hydraulic analyses of full-span stream crossings using one- and two-dimensional (1-D and 2-D) hydraulic models. The project was initiated by the California Department of Transportation’s interest in moving from 1-D to 2-D hydraulic modeling and by the Federal Highways Administration’s support for adopting SRH-2D (Sedimentation and River Hydraulics-2D developed by the US Bureau of Reclamation) in Aquaveo, LLC’s Surface-water Modeling System as their standard design model. Two-dimensional hydraulic models calculate more detailed water depths and velocities than 1-D models, which can better identify fish passage conditions, areas of potential scour or deposition, and aquatic …

Sediment Yield In Salmon Creek After Decommissioning Logging Roads, Northern Humboldt County, California, Malia S B Gonzales

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Salmon Creek watershed is located in the Headwaters Forest Reserve in northern California and is known for the ecological value of its old-growth redwood forest, high biodiversity, and sensitive habitat for endangered species. The Bureau of Land Management primarily manages the Reserve. The land-use history of the Upper Salmon Creek watershed includes extensive timber harvest and road development. Watershed restoration in the Upper Salmon Creek watershed started in 2000 with the primary goal for the Reserve to protect and recover ecologic diversity and threatened native species. Since then, of the 23 miles, 13.5 miles of logging roads and 101 stream …

Electrification Of Domestic Hot Water To Aid The Integration Of Renewable Energy In The California Grid, Alejandro Cervantes

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Water heating in residential buildings, also known as domestic hot water (DHW), is the third largest use of energy after appliances and space conditioning. About 90% of the residential buildings in the state use natural gas fueled water heaters, 6% use electricity, and a small percent use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or solar water heaters. The current energy use associated with residential water heating is small relative to the total amount of energy consumption in the residential building sector, but it is still a contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Improving hot water systems can be beneficial for bill customer …

Pfas Removals And Increases In The Effluent Of Thirteen New Hampshire Wastewater Treatment Facilities Due To The Effects Of Biological Treatment Processes, Zachary P. Harvell

Honors Theses and Capstones

PROPOSAL/ABSTRACT:

Perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are an emerging contaminant of concern in environmental engineering. This group of chemicals has been used by manufacturers since the 1940s due to their desirable waterproofing qualities. They also have a high chemical stability at high temperatures, which makes treatment difficult. A large variety of manufactured items contain PFAS, such as fabrics and apparel, non-stick items, and food wrappers. Recently, these compounds have come under question due to studies supporting harmful health effects, such as low birthweight, cancer, thyroid hormone disruption, and a weakened immune system. Due to their chemical structure, PFAS compounds are difficult …

A Review On Investigating The Experimental Process For Partial Replacement Of Cement With Sugarcane Bagasse In The Construction Industry, Amany G. Micheal Prof., Rania Rushdy Moussa Ass. Prof., Nadin Magdy Dawoud Eng.

Architectural Engineering

In the last few decades there has been speedily increasing in the agriculture and industrial wastes. This causes many environmental issues and raises the potential to contaminate the natural resources of living such as water, air and soil. Recently, the amount of organic waste produced daily has been rising, while it is poorly managed. It is either burned or disposed improperly, which effect negatively the environment and public health. On the other hand, during the cement production process many wastes, and pollutants are generated which have major negative impacts on the environment. Cement is considered as a substantial constituent of …

Selective Precipitation And Recovery Of Rare Earth Elements From Acid Mine Drainage, Robyn Lauren Christoferson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The ability to secure rare earth elements (REEs) in the United States is of concern due to the rapid growth in demand and the monopolistic supply chain. The demand for REEs has skyrocketed in recent years due to the development of many green technologies. The United States and many other countries are currently reliant on China for REEs, who currently control greater than 90% of the global supply. Due to the severe impact of previous Chinese export quotas, it is important to lessen the reliance on importation and explore methods of recycling REEs from secondary sources. A secondary REE source …

Site-Specific Irrigation Management In A Sub-Humid Climate Using A Spatial Evapotranspiration Model With Satellite And Airborne Imagery, Sandeep Bhatti, Derek M. Heeren, J. Burdette Barker, Christopher M. U. Neale, Wayne Woldt, Mitchell S. Maguire, Daran Rudnick

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) considers spatial variability in soil and plant characteristics to optimize irrigation management in agricultural fields. The advent of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) creates an opportunity to utilize high-resolution (spatial and temporal) imagery into irrigation management due to decreasing costs, ease of operation, and reduction of regulatory constraints. This research aimed to evaluate the use of UAS data for VRI, and to quantify the potential of VRI in terms of relative crop and water response. Irrigation treatments were: (1) VRI using Landsat imagery (VRI-L), (2) VRI using UAS imagery (VRI-U), (3) uniform (U), and (4) rainfed (R). …

An Automated Seepage Meter For Streams And Lakes, D. Kip Solomon, Eric Humphrey, Troy E. Gilmore, David P. Genereux, Vitaly Zlotnik

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

We describe a new automatic seepage meter for use in soft bottom streams and lakes. The meter utilizes a thin‐walled tube that is inserted into the streambed or lakebed. A hole in the side of the tube is fitted with an electric valve. Prior to the test, the valve is open and the water level inside the tube is the same as the water level outside the tube. The test starts with closure of the valve, and the water level inside the tube changes as it moves toward the equilibrium hydraulic head that exists at the bottom of the tube. …

Automatic Wheat Lodging Detection And Mapping In Aerial Imagery To Support High-Throughput Phenotyping And In-Season Crop Management, Biquan Zhao, Jiating Li, P. Stephen Baenziger, Vikas Belamkar, Yufeng Ge, Jian Zhang, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Latest advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) allow us to detect crop lodging in a more precise and accurate way. However, the performance and generalization of a model capable of detecting lodging when the plants may show different spectral and morphological signatures have not been investigated much. This study investigated and compared the performance of models trained using aerial imagery collected at two growth stages of winter wheat with different canopy phenotypes. Specifically, three CNN-based models were trained with aerial imagery collected at early grain filling stage only, at physiological maturity only, and at …

Emulsion Characterization Study For Improved Bilgewater Treatment And Management, Daniela Diaz Hernandez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The need for proper management of bilgewater to meet discharge regulations (e.g., 15 ppm oil) has revealed the necessity to expand the current understanding of bilgewater emulsions. This study proposed to evaluate emulsion stability under various environmental conditions and to identify governing parameters for emulsion formation. The stabilizing properties of eight-commercial cleaners and two-neat surfactants were evaluated. In situ characterization techniques were used for monitoring emulsion stability. Additionally, a needle-type pH microsensor and fluorescence spectroscopy were used for analyzing mass transfer at the oil-water interface. Water quality of extracted bilgewater showed to highly vary between vessels (e.g., conductivity: 1.74 -- …

Soil-Water-Energy Nexus Of Green Roofs, Katherine Ann Bartels

Masters Theses

"As the urban landscape continues to sprawl into previously undeveloped land to accommodate population growth, the need to design cities that effectively manage urban stormwater is imperative for a sustainable future. Green roofs use rain-harvesting techniques to reduce urban stormwater discharge while simultaneously providing traditional roof services as well as several ecosystem services. However, green roof media design varies greatly among commercial applications, and little guidance is available to engineers when selecting the media for prospective green roofs. Efforts to maximize stormwater retention and enhance urban heat island mitigation capabilities of green roofs while concurrently reducing nutrient loading were examined …

Metalimnetic Oxygen Minimum In Green Lake, Wisconsin, Mahta Naziri Saeed

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Green Lake, located in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, has been experiencing summer Metalimnetic Oxygen Minima (MOM). The severity of the MOM has increased in recent years and the lake was listed as impaired in 2014. To investigate the MOM, the lake was monitored during 2017 and 2018 at two sites using moored temperature and oxygen sensors recording at 1-hour intervals. Using these data, a hydrodynamic model (Simstrat) was configured for the lake. A new model was then developed to simulate the oxygen changes in the lake. Productivity, respiration, sediment oxygen demand (SOD) and fluxes were included, and hydrodynamics were driven …

Towards Efficient Water Treatment: Mechanism Of Colloidal Fouling Of Ultrafiltration Membranes, Ikenna Henry Ozofor

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This research study first reviewed challenges of conventional and membrane separation systems for water treatment. Though membrane separation systems appeared superior to the conventional counterparts for water and wastewater treatment, wider applications of membrane systems have been limited by some factors, most notably is membrane fouling. Experimental studies were therefore conducted to achieve the goal of this research, which is to investigate how feed properties affect fouling of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes by colloids.

Feed salinity, pH, and nanoparticle concentration were the variables studied to unravel how different UF membranes are fouled by model silica colloids (with average diameter of 25nm). …

Ground And Aerial Robots For Agricultural Production: Opportunities And Challenges, Santosh Pitla, Sreekala Bajwa, Santosh Bhusal, Tom Brumm, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Dennis R. Buckmaster, Isabella Condotta, John Fulton, Todd J. Janzen, Manoj Karkee, Mario Lopez, Robert Moorhead, Michael Sama, Leon Schumacher, Scott Shearer, Alex Thomasson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Crop and animal production techniques have changed significantly over the last century. In the early 1900s, animal power was replaced by tractor power that resulted in tremendous improvements in field productivity, which subsequently laid foundation for mechanized agriculture. While precision agriculture has enabled site-specific management of crop inputs for improved yields and quality, precision livestock farming has boosted efficiencies in animal and dairy industries. By 2020, highly automated systems are employed in crop and animal agriculture to increase input efficiency and agricultural output with reduced adverse impact on the environment. Ground and aerial robots combined with artificial intelligence (AI) techniques …

Tracing Sources Of Natural Organic Matter, Trihalomethanes And Metals In Groundwater From A Karst Region, Connie O'Driscoll, Eoin Mcgillicuddy, Peter Croot, Pamela Bartley, John Mcmyler, Jerome Sheahan, Liam Morrison

Articles

Groundwater offers an important source for drinking water around the world; however, groundwater quality is under increasing pressure and is particularly vulnerable in karst areas. Total organic carbon (TOC) is significantly related to groundwater quality and when not removed by water treatment processes can give rise to the formation of disinfection by-products trihalomethanes (THMs) above the level of compliance. This study investigated the source of organic matter giving rise to the THM exceedances in a groundwater supply in a karst area. Results highlighted that source water for this groundwater supply was prone to surface water infiltration linked to rainfall events; …