From: Cathy
Colwell
To: duane@totcon.com
Sent:Saturday, February 12, 2000 10:49 AM
Subject: ISTF project at Mainland High School
I am somewhat embarrassed to send this diagram to you ... we are in the process of redoing it but ran out of time for this email's deadline. (This note was initiated as a result is an IM conversation with Mr. Anderson.)
Tomorrow morning I'll try and send you an updated one as the students work throughout today. The project requires that all of our communications with our advisors/consultants be made via email or fax.
Please feel free to ask as many questions as you need ... although we might in turn have to pass the questions on to someone else. I am extremely grateful for your assistance. The students have completed a phenomenal amount of research to get to this point in the project.
Our project team has decided on the idea of taking a current wastewater treatment plant and designing a building to house it. Basically the drive behind this is that areas with growing populations and no land to expand often face the need to expand their capacity in order to suit the increased need. We propose, instead of buying more land and placing another tank in the ground, the plants build a structure in which everything after the initial sludge pumps is situated above ground and confined to a definite structure. We would like to have a design that would allow for additional processing units to be "inserted" into "empty spaces" with minor reworking of the piping to accommodate the flow once it exceeds the primary level's capacity. The idea of internalizing everything also aids in the recovery of methane, a very harsh greenhouse gas. As can be seen from this link, http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dep/html/snclist.html, cities are having a hard time maintaining compliance with existing legislation.
The guidelines for the project, sponsored by UCF, can be found at http://istf.ucf.edu/
Thank-you,
Cathy Colwell
From:Cathy
Colwell
To:Duane Anderson
Sent:Sunday, February 13, 2000 12:54 PM
Subject: more information
Mr. Anderson - Here is a copy of our more formal introductory letter.
My name is Cathy Colwell and I represent a group of students conducting an Internet research project at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida. For more information about the competition which we are participating in, please visit the Internet Science and Technology Fair's (ISTF) web site at http://istf.ucf.edu. Our team has devised the idea of taking an existing wastewater treatment plant and housing it within a vertical building.
Basically, the environmental advantage by this design is two-fold. Initially, it represents a reduction in the area necessary to expand when communities, with growing populations and diminishing land area, are forced to increase their sewage treatment capacity to accommodate the growth.
We propose that instead of buying more land and adding another plant adjacent to an existing one, which is not an option for most large cities; that plants build a structure in which every stage of the treatment process, after the initial sludge pumps, aeration tanks, and final gravel filters be situated above ground and be confined within a vertical structure. A nice diagram to familiarize yourself with an entire treatment process is at http://www.ccc.govt.nz/waste/Wastewater/FlowDiagram.asp.
The building's square surface area would be restricted to that of the ground floor. A simple diagram of our proposal can be found at http://public.cctt.org/istf2000/finalforms/building.htm The building's design could initially leave room for multiples of each tank thus providing space in which to incorporate additional growth-units to accommodate the flow once it exceeds the primary level's capacity, providing perhaps for up to three times the initial flow specifications. As can be seen from this link, http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dep/html/snclist.html, large cities are having a hard time maintaining compliance with existing legislation.
Secondly, the idea of internalizing the plant allows for 100% recovery of generated methane. Methane, an environmentally harsh greenhouse gas, is a renewable energy resource that many municipalities are not harvesting because of the current availability of other cheaper energy resources. This structure would double as a significant energy production plant that has a dependable daily product.
Our question is: can the building materials that are currently available withstand the strain that this proposed facility would place on them? We would need to support egg digesters, http://www.roediger.com/p_adigester.html and aeration tanks, http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/sewer/html/sewditp.htm as well as addressing safety issues with handling the methane.
We are looking forward to hearing back from you soon.
Thank-you,
Mrs. Cathy Colwell
From: Duane Anderson duane@totcon.com
To: Cathy Colwell colwell@mindspring.com
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 8:38 AM
Subject: tech fair competition
Cathy:
I have received your information and diagrams and have some design
questions for you and your team. Please call me at 904.736.6737 during
the business day so we can discuss your project and how I may assist.
The key element , as I understand it, is not the engineering effort for
gravity loads of the tanks but the expansion (growth) of the
structure(s) over time. An interesting challenge.
Duane Anderson