Using Engineering to Provide Access to Clean Water

ENG 21007: WRITING FOR ENGINEERING

PROFESSOR JULIA BROWN

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

GROUP MEMBERS:

NDIAYE, SEYNABOU

RANI, TANHA

TORRES, JAKOB

Summary

After analyzing the various problems faced by many countries and many populations, we did research to see which problem was the most significant that needed immediate attention. Water is an essential commodity for human beings. Water is life, and the lack of it would lead to catastrophic effects that would be irreversible. Therefore, solving the problem of water shortages proved to be reasonable and a worthy challenge for us. The proposed program for this engineering proposal is Using Engineering to Provide Access to Clean Water. Our qualifications include skills acquired through rigorous college courses that allowed us to have problem-solving skills, pressure management, teamwork, creativity, structural analysis, and communication. As a group of experienced and competent engineers drawn from various fields, we have a wide range of experiences and achievements gained from projects we have already completed before. After research and enquiries, our project would terminate to a budget of approximately $50 million.

Introduction

Maintaining continuous access to sufficient volumes of clean, potable water remains increasingly critical as the demographics of cities as well as other municipal areas rise. Engineers are continually progressing the creation of such systems that distribute clean water effectively and reliably through environmental and water resource engineering approaches. Clean water solutions are now virtually uniformly implemented in most industrialized countries, allowing more people than ever before to have accessibility to ample water supplies that are free of water – related diseases. Examples of the available engineering solutions that can be explored include desalination, agriculture irrigation technology, wastewater treatment, PUR water purifying sachet, water purification tablets, decentralized distillation units. The costs of these projects will depend on the size of the project, population, and the amount of water that will be provided. Therefore, this engineering project will explore a specific area that does not have access to clean water and identify the most appropriate technique to provide a solution that will solve the problem.  

Project Description

After effectively doing research and gathering the needed amount of information for the project, desalination and wastewater treatment were the most feasible solutions available. Desalination is the process of removing salts, other minerals, and pollutants from saltwater, brackish water, and wastewater effluent to produce fresh water for human consumption and domestic/industrial use. Desalination is not only used to purify seawater, but it can also be used to remediate groundwater with harmful salt or sediment concentrations. Desalination may become an economical solution for those who live in areas where freshwater is unavailable when new technologies are developed. Through our project, we will desalinate water by adding the water in a CSTR tank with a mixer to create drinkable water. The excess will rejoin the tank from a tube. The overall purpose of wastewater treatment is to remove dangerous bacteria, chemicals, and virulent poisons that can be present in sewage. Wastewater can now be turned into clean water that can be discharged back into the environment thanks to advances in engineering technology. 

Budget

The budget for this project will vary considering the size of our water desalination and treatment project. Furthermore, the amount of water that should be provided will also be of major importance in determining the budget for the cost. Estimating time and expenses accurately, planning for eventualities, and determining how to track progress are just a few of the factors that go into putting together a good project budget. Budget modifications might be aided by tracking KPIs. Project expenditures, planned value, and earned value are examples of KPIs we used for this project’s budget estimation. KPIs are the key performance indicators. The total budget for the engineering project was estimated to be approximately $50 million. The following table analyzes the components making up the total costs.  

Cost Association	Parameter	Percentage of  Total Costs
Maintenance	Instruments  Pump upkeep  Facility upkeep including intake pipeline pigging      Minor equipment replacement wells and            associated cleaning	6%
Legal/Permitting	Environmental monitoring Permit compliance	2%
Operations	Labor	6%
	Sludge and solids waste disposal  Bar rack and band screen solids waste disposal	4%
	Cartridge Filters and RO Membrane Replacements	11%
	Power (Energy)	55%
	Chemicals	6%
	Other	10%

Conclusion

Having evaluated our whole project and determined the location, amount of water, and the population to serve, it was now easier to proceed to the design step where all these factors would be considered. We will create a solution to add the water then use a CSTR tank with a mixer and create drinkable water with the excess, rejoining the tank from a tube. Additionally, the budget would also contribute to the design immensely so that everything remains as planned. Providing clean water at a lower cost is our main aim. Sometimes it becomes expensive for people to acquire clean water which causes many hardships. We therefore urge for any additional support and acceptance of our engineering project proposal so that we can proceed effectively.  

References

Cui, L., Zhang, P., Xiao, Y., Liang, Y., Liang, H., Cheng, Z., & Qu, L. (2018). High-rate production of clean water based on the combined photo‐electro‐thermal effect of graphene architecture. Advanced Materials, 30(22), 1706805.

Diallo, M., Duncan, J., & Savage, N. (2009). Nanotechnology applications for clean water: solutions for improving water quality. William Andrew.

Likodimos, V., Dionysiou, D. D., & Falaras, P. (2010). Clean water: water detoxification using innovative photocatalysts. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 9(2), 87-94.

Macedonio, F., Drioli, E., Gusev, A. A., Bardow, A., Semiat, R., & Kurihara, M. (2012). Efficient technologies for worldwide clean water supply. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 51, 2-17.

Rehmat, A. P., & Owens, M. C. (2020). Engineering Clean Water. Science and Children, 57(8), 42-48.

Wright, K., Milanovic, I., & Eppes, T. A. (2018, June). Implementing Collaborative Projects Using a National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenge: Provide Access to Clean Water. In 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.