CEE student team shines at WEFTEC competition with innovative wastewater solution

In a feat of speed and precision, a team of CEE students stood out at the WEFTEC student design competition, securing an impressive 5th place among 15 competing teams.

Graduate students Labdhi Kagdi, Megan Johnston, Victoria Kurker, and Fiza Jalees from CMU CEE took on this challenge with exceptional determination. Their achievement is even more outstanding because they completed their project in just two months during the summer, while many teams invest over a year in their projects.

Their journey began in professor Joe Moore’s Biological Wastewater Treatment course (12-724), where they collaborated with ALCOSAN to address a critical issue: excessively diluted waste during heavy rainfall. This problem disrupts wastewater treatment systems reliant on specific microorganisms. The team swiftly analyzed ALCOSAN's data and consulted with experts to identify cost-effective alterations to the treatment system as the solution.

Their project involved modeling inputs and outputs, assessing additional food sources, and reimagining facility protocols, which were crucial for ALCOSAN's expansion from 250 MGD to 600 MGD. This expansion aimed to handle more water, including rainwater with low substrate levels, but maintaining the microorganism population and F/M (food microorganism ratio) balance was a challenge. The team's use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) considered the environmental impact and cost to evaluate alternative solutions.

The CMU CEE student team's performance at the WEFTEC competition underscores their innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, offering a real-world solution to a pressing wastewater treatment challenge. Their achievement serves as an inspiration to aspiring engineers, demonstrating the power of determination and collaboration in addressing complex real-world problems.