College
College of Engineering and Polymer Science
Date of Last Revision
2023-05-04 13:38:59
Major
Civil Engineering
Honors Course
300 497-003
Number of Credits
3
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Date of Expected Graduation
Spring 2022
Abstract
A challenge faced today in water ways is the excessive growth of algae due to eutrophication. These harmful algal blooms create problems for the environment and safety concerns for the use of water for drinking purposes. An increase in limiting nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are one of the factors that contribute to eutrophication. This is a concern for the Akron Water Treatment plant where preventative measures are being taken to avoid the potential formation of harmful algal blooms and the cyanotoxins they may release in the water. Through various studies, water treatment residuals (WTR) have been found to be effective at reducing phosphorus levels through adsorption. WTR are byproducts of drinking water treatment plants that can be reused to prevent harmful algae blooms. The two types of WTR used in these experiments are Al-WTR and PAC-WTR. Both WTR’s contain aluminum sulphate but PAC-WTR has powder activated carbon to assist with removing organics and taste and odor compounds in the water during the treatment process. One set of research was conducted to look at the effect different bake times had on the phosphorus adsorption capacity of the WTR’s. The results from these experiments showed that Al-WTR baked for 8 or 16 hours at 175 ℃ and PAC-WTR baked for 4 hours at 150 ℃ had the maximum increase in capacity of phosphorus adsorption. The other set of research analyzed the wet-dry release of the WTR in the case of a rain event. Analysis of the rain event experiment is currently under way. These experiments were run to test two different variables that could optimize the adsorption of phosphorus and see the effect of a storm event to ensure the safety of the use of these WTR’s in the environment.
Research Sponsor
Teresa J. Cutright
First Reader
Christopher Miller
Second Reader
David Roke
Honors Faculty Advisor
Ping Yi
Recommended Citation
Fahoum, Noor, "Potential Water Treatment Residual Used for Eutrophication Prevention: Varying Bake Time and Wet-Dry Release Experiments" (2022). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1348.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1348