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About AguaClara

The Project

AguaClara is a project in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University that is improving drinking water quality through innovation, research, knowledge transfer, open-source engineering, and design of sustainable, replicable water treatment systems.

The foundation of our project is in research and design of sustainable water treatment plants for the Global South. The plants are conceived with careful consideration for their implementation and integration into the communities in which they are built. This integration and implementation can be split up into the two categories of knowledge transfer and local sustainability.

Wiki Markup
 AguaClara


h3. The Project

AguaClara is a project in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University that is improving drinking water quality through innovation, [research|Research], knowledge transfer, [open-source engineering|Open Source Engineering], and design of sustainable, replicable water treatment systems.

The foundation of our project is in research and design of sustainable water treatment plants for the Global South.  The plants are conceived with careful consideration for their implementation and integration into the communities in which they are built. This integration and implementation can be split up into the two categories of knowledge transfer and local sustainability.
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[!project sites^cumulative_population_cache_image.png!|project sites]
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Thus

...

far,

...

we

...

have

...

designed

...

and

...

consulted

...

on

...

the

...

construction

...

of

...

five

...

water

...

treatment

...

plants:

...

Ojojona

...

,

...

Marcala

...

,

...

Tamara

...

,

...

Cuatro

...

Comunidades

...

,

...

and

...

Agalteca

...

.

...

The

...

plant

...

in

...

Marcala

...

was

...

designed

...

to

...

retrofit

...

a

...

pre-existing

...

failed

...

plant

...

in

...

a

...

project

...

lead

...

by

...

the

...

National

...

Rural

...

Water

...

Association

...

(NRWA)

...

.

...

To

...

date,

...

four

...

fully

...

working

...

water

...

treatment

...

plants

...

that

...

are

...

operating

...

effectively

...

and

...

providing

...

safe,

...

clean

...

water

...

to

...

13,000

...

people

...

across

...

Honduras.

...

Currently,

...

the

...

fifth

...

water

...

treatment

...

plant,

...

Agalteca

...

,

...

is

...

being

...

built

...

and

...

will

...

provide

...

2,160

...

people

...

with

...

access

...

to

...

clean

...

and

...

safe

...

drinking

...

water.

...

Social

...

Sustainability

...

Beyond

...

the

...

physical

...

design

...

and

...

construction

...

of

...

water

...

treatment

...

plants,

...

the

...

AguaClara

...

project

...

also

...

focuses

...

on

...

knowledge

...

transfer.

...

This

...

allows

...

the

...

receiving

...

communities

...

to

...

be

...

self

...

sufficient

...

and

...

sustainable

...

in

...

plant

...

maintenance

...

and

...

operation.

...

Our

...

plants

...

are

...

built

...

using

...

local

...

labor,

...

with

...

attention

...

paid

...

to

...

educating

...

plant

...

operators

...

and

...

other

...

local

...

people

...

about

...

the

...

technology.

...

During

...

the

...

summer

...

operator

...

training

...

workshops

...

are

...

held

...

to

...

provide

...

more

...

face-to-face

...

education.

...

AguaClara

...

places

...

education

...

as

...

the

...

most

...

valuable

...

element

...

of

...

a

...

successful

...

development

...

project.

...

If

...

the

...

community

...

understands

...

the

...

importance

...

of

...

clean

...

water,

...

the

...

operators

...

understand

...

how

...

the

...

use

...

the

...

technology,

...

and

...

the

...

community

...

takes

...

part

...

(contributing

...

labor

...

and

...

local

...

materials)

...

in

...

building

...

the

...

plant,

...

then

...

the

...

chances

...

of

...

the

...

community

...

sustaining

...

the

...

technology

...

are

...

much

...

greater.

...

AguaClara

...

partners

...

with

...

a

...

local

...

organization,

...

Agua

...

Para

...

el

...

Pueblo

...

(APP);

...

this

...

regional

...

partner

...

aids

...

in

...

site

...

selection,

...

construction,

...

and

...

organization

...

in

...

Honduras.

...

It

...

is

...

these

...

local

...

connections

...

and

...

this

...

knowledge

...

sharing

...

that

...

makes

...

our

...

technology

...

socially

...

sustainable.

...

Currently,

...

APP

...

is

...

working

...

to

...

select

...

the

...

next

...

candidate

...

communities

...

to

...

receive

...

AguaClara

...

water

...

treatment

...

plants.

...

Physical Sustainability

Wiki Markup
 Sustainability

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[!About AguaClara^CycleOfInnovation.JPG|width=240px!|About AguaClara]
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The

...

research

...

done

...

at

...

Cornell

...

University

...

on

...

water

...

treatment

...

processes

...

is

...

the

...

foundation

...

for

...

the

...

design

...

of

...

the

...

plants

...

we

...

have

...

built.

...

Our

...

water

...

treatment

...

plants

...

are

...

designed

...

to

...

be

...

clever,

...

simple

...

and

...

affordable.

...

They

...

are

...

entirely

...

gravity

...

powered

...

and

...

made

...

almost

...

completely

...

out

...

of

...

local

...

materials.

...

The

...

design

...

algorithms

...

are

...

structured

...

to

...

be

...

scalable

...

and

...

replicable.

...

These

...

factors,

...

combined

...

with

...

very

...

simple

...

designs,

...

make

...

our

...

plants

...

physically

...

sustainable.

...

The

...

next

...

push

...

for

...

our

...

project

...

is

...

to

...

make

...

our

...

algorithms

...

open

...

source

...

.

...

We

...

are

...

working

...

on

...

the

...

MathCAD

...

and

...

AutoCAD

...

code

...

necessary

...

to

...

create

...

an

...

internet

...

interface

...

such

...

that

...

anyone

...

wanting

...

to

...

use

...

the

...

AguaClara

...

design

...

can

...

input

...

basic

...

parameters

...

about

...

their

...

town

...

and

...

the

...

program

...

will

...

return

...

a

...

complete

...

plant

...

design.

...

The

...

AguaClara

...

team

...

is

...

endeavoring

...

to

...

expand

...

the

...

knowledge

...

base

...

for

...

creating

...

a

...

sustainable

...

future.

...

We

...

are

...

convinced

...

that

...

the

...

most

...

effective

...

way

...

to

...

develop

...

new

...

solutions

...

is

...

to

...

integrate

...

field

...

and

...

laboratory

...

research.

...

We

...

currently

...

have

...

4

...

laboratory-based

...

and

...

1

...

computation-based

...

research

...

teams

...

(with

...

1

...

to

...

5

...

students

...

each)

...

working

...

to

...

improve

...

water

...

treatment

...

technologies.

...

We

...

also

...

have

...

a

...

large

...

Design

...

Tool

...

team

...

that

...

is

...

creating

...

computational

...

algorithms

...

for

...

designing

...

drinking

...

water

...

treatment

...

plants,

...

and

...

an

...

outreach

...

team

...

that

...

is

...

coordinating

...

fundraising

...

and

...

public

...

relations.

...

Working

...

with

...

partner

...

organizations

...

who

...

build

...

the

...

water

...

treatment

...

plants

...

is

...

a

...

critical

...

part

...

of

...

the

...

project

...

research

...

since

...

it

...

is

...

the

...

feedback

...

from

...

the

...

operating

...

plants

...

that

...

helps

...

guide

...

the

...

research

...

agenda.

...

The

...

AguaClara

...

project

...

integrates

...

research,

...

outreach,

...

service,

...

and

...

learning.

...

We

...

are

...

engaging

...

with

...

disciplines

...

beyond

...

engineering

...

with

...

close

...

connections

...

to

...

business

...

and

...

public

...

health

...

and

...

are

...

working

...

to

...

extend

...

that

...

engagement

...

in

...

the

...

coming

...

months.

...

Donate

...

to

...

help

...

us

...

improve

...

robust,

...

low

...

cost

...

water

...

treatment

...

technologies

...

and

...

to

...

provide

...

safe

...

drinking

...

water

...

to

...

the

...

unserved.

...

Future

...

Goals

...

As

...

we

...

move

...

forward

...

in

...

our

...

research

...

we

...

are

...

testing

...

variations

...

of

...

our

...

existing

...

flocculation

...

model,

...

including

...

the

...

relationship

...

between

...

velocity

...

gradients

...

and

...

fluid

...

mixing

...

and

...

floc

...

formation,

...

that

...

will

...

make

...

the

...

AguaClara

...

technology

...

more

...

efficient

...

and

...

even

...

less

...

expensive.

...

We

...

are

...

also

...

researching

...

ways

...

to

...

design

...

sedimentation

...

and

...

chemical

...

dosing

...

systems

...

to

...

improve

...

the

...

efficiency

...

of

...

plant

...

operation.

...

A

...

complete

...

list

...

of

...

research

...

projects

...

can

...

be

...

found

...

on

...

the

...

research

...

page.