To get opinions from professionals, we went to the water treatment plant and asked various questions to two employees there named Marlan Pelham and Ray Hunt.
First we wanted to get an understanding of the effectiveness of our coagulation process so we showed them our final data tests and asked them how our results measure up to standards they use at the water plant. Our treatment yielded an average of 3 NTU post coagulation, and they said that the standard that water must be when it leaves the plant is .1 NTU. So from this, we know that our coagulation process alone does not yield water to the standards of the Rutherford county water treatment plant. We asked if water yielded at 3 NTU was a success and if it should be used for people in underdeveloped countries who lack access to clean water. Hunt explained that American water standards are high above what is actually required to provide safe water and that many developed countries have much lower standards and their citizens do not suffer from the more turbid water. Furthermore, he explained that, even though the water at 3 NTU may not appease and American used to .1 NTU, the water most people drink in underdeveloped regions are from rivers, creeks, and some cases, stagnant lakes. Therefore, the average turbidity that those in such regions would consume would range from 80-100 NTU, and the 3 NTU would be such an improvement upon that that whatever minor particulate that remains in the water would not cause illness because the consumer has been getting sick for so long on water with 30 times the turbidity. They also stated that since in our process we recommend filtration following the settling stage, the turbidity may even be lowered below 3 NTU following this stage depending on what supplies the people in the region have access to for filtration.
Another question we asked was if they thought our process was too difficult to implement in underdeveloped regions because we wanted to insure it was plausible. They explained to us that, since the process is just adding agents, mixing, and settling, it shouldn’t be too difficult at all. However, when they saw that in our process we stated all of our units in mL, they said that a mL syringe may not be widely accessible. Based on this information, we altered the units of our process to use tablespoons and measuring cups in order to be simpler for people to use. They also stated that since settling time is required, the process may be best to be performed at night before bed.
First we wanted to get an understanding of the effectiveness of our coagulation process so we showed them our final data tests and asked them how our results measure up to standards they use at the water plant. Our treatment yielded an average of 3 NTU post coagulation, and they said that the standard that water must be when it leaves the plant is .1 NTU. So from this, we know that our coagulation process alone does not yield water to the standards of the Rutherford county water treatment plant. We asked if water yielded at 3 NTU was a success and if it should be used for people in underdeveloped countries who lack access to clean water. Hunt explained that American water standards are high above what is actually required to provide safe water and that many developed countries have much lower standards and their citizens do not suffer from the more turbid water. Furthermore, he explained that, even though the water at 3 NTU may not appease and American used to .1 NTU, the water most people drink in underdeveloped regions are from rivers, creeks, and some cases, stagnant lakes. Therefore, the average turbidity that those in such regions would consume would range from 80-100 NTU, and the 3 NTU would be such an improvement upon that that whatever minor particulate that remains in the water would not cause illness because the consumer has been getting sick for so long on water with 30 times the turbidity. They also stated that since in our process we recommend filtration following the settling stage, the turbidity may even be lowered below 3 NTU following this stage depending on what supplies the people in the region have access to for filtration.
Another question we asked was if they thought our process was too difficult to implement in underdeveloped regions because we wanted to insure it was plausible. They explained to us that, since the process is just adding agents, mixing, and settling, it shouldn’t be too difficult at all. However, when they saw that in our process we stated all of our units in mL, they said that a mL syringe may not be widely accessible. Based on this information, we altered the units of our process to use tablespoons and measuring cups in order to be simpler for people to use. They also stated that since settling time is required, the process may be best to be performed at night before bed.