Howdy!

Yesterday was the first day of the 2010 Water Environment Federation (WEF) Collections Systems Conference. This year the conference takes place at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona.

Water professionals from around the country will gather here in the next few days to discuss water issues regarding rainwater harvesting, stormwater management, and wastewater treatment. Companies will also show off their water-related products (pumps, flow meters, and more!) in the exhibitor’s area. The conference promises to be an intellectual stimulating event packed with water workshops and lectures.

But I didn’t go for the conference –I went for the WEF Wastewater Challenge, a water treatment competition open to colleges around the country.  This year is the pilot year for this national competition.

I am part of the UC Berkeley Environmental Team.  Our system utilized two sand layers and a canister full of activated carbon and charcoal to treat water. Our system treated water with physical processes (filtration, adsorption, etc.); other schools added chemicals like bleach and hydrogen peroxide to adjust color and pH of the water.

Most of the teams that attended were from colleges in the Western United States, but one team flew in from as far as Ohio. Eight schools competed this year: Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Colorado State, Ohio State, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, University of Wisconsin, and Washington State.

Teams must design and build a portable wastewater treatment system to treat 10 gallons of simulated wastewater. Points are awarded for simplicity of design, innovation, treated water quality. Teams also submit a design paper and deliver a 10-minute presentation about their systems.

After hours of water treatment and team presentations, judges reviewed their scorings and announced the winners… Here is the top three:

1^st Place: UC Irvine

2^nd Place: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

3^rd Place: UC Berkeley

Go Bears!

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