Natalie Goldman's Individual Contribution Page

Fall 2009 Contributions

Plate Settler Spacing Research Team

During the Fall 2009 semester I have worked on the Plate Settlers Spacing Research team. I have specifically worked on graphing collected data from the Influent Water Saturated with Air experiment and the Velocity Gradient Experiment. As a new member of AguaClara I have learned to use the Process Controller and to work with the team's apparatus. I have altered portions of the apparatus for the various experiments conducted during the semester, such as help change the influent water feed to the apparatus and help to change the tube settler to different sizes. I understand the functions of Alum and Clay, and the importance of the floc blanket to the effluent turbidity of water. I have used excel to graph data collected by the process controller. I understand the connection between data collected and the experiments that we ran during the semester. For example, I understand that the graph of effluent turbidity versus flow rate allows our team to determine the maximum amount of water that can pass through the apparatus at a given time. This amount is limited by the flow rate that causes floc particles to roll-up the plate settler and generate a spike in effluent turbidity, found in the graph of the data. I worked closely with Matt on the details of the saturated water experiment. I can explain why floc blanket formation is disturbed and why this effects effluent turbidity.

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