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Design Projects
Feedback from the interns in Honduras has shown that settling is occurring in the slopes at Marcala. This is thought to be occurring because the bottom angle is too shallow and because the exit velocity from the slopes is too low. Some literature review showed that to prevent settling and floc break up, the velocity should be around 5 cm/s. When possible, the lower angle for future designs was changed from 10 deg to 30-40 deg.
An algorithm was needed to automate the design of the slopes. After several versions, it was decided that exit ports would be needed at the slope exit. A description of this algorithm can be found here.
Cuatro Communidades
Spring 2009
Agalteca
Agalteca is a community with 2160 people that distributes their water from a nearby river. A preliminary design was done for budgeting purposes and fundraising is currently being conducted.
Atima
Atima is a potential community with a population of 3300, or 550 homes. A design flow rate is being given of 270gal/min to account for estimated future demands. A preliminary design was created in order for the town to evaluate the budget.
Gracias
We are currently working on the Gracias design.
Ecuador Design
The Ecuador pilot plant was designed for a University professor. The plant was designed to have a flow rate of 3L/s. This pilot facility is designed to be viewed by other communities in the hope of encouraging the AguaClara technology as a water treatment option. This design will further allow research to be conducted by including redundant systems. Construction is set to begin in late May, without the assistance of our engineers in Honduras.
Fall 2008
Cuatro Comunidades
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h6. Plant at Cuatro Comunidades
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The Cuatro Comunidades plant is serving these 4 communities: Los Bayos, Rio Frio, Las Jaguas, and Aldea Bonito. By design, the plant is relatively smaller - the plant flow rate is 100.4 gal/min. However, this plant will be the first plant to include the sedimentation tank slopes (inlet triangular manifold), and exit channel, and a hoper for the floc blanket. Each sedimentation tank has 2 inlet slopes. Given the specific energy dissipation rate, velocities for the entrance channel, connections to the manifolds, and manifolds, are all constrained to not break up flocs and minimize the floc sedimentation. Single width sedimentation tanks were used for the design, and were made to be shallower than previous ones.
The Cuatro Communidades design was smaller than other recent designs completed. Single width sedimentation tanks were used for the design. This plant will be the first to be designed to include the sedimentation tank slopes, and an exit channel. Details of the design can be found below.
Gracias
We began the semester trying out new set-ups for the Gracias community which required a flowrate much higher than previous designs. The results can be seen below.
It was ultimately decided that Gracias would have a triple width sed tank. The variable widths of the sed tank will later be automated to account for higher flowrates.
Fall 2007
Tamara
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h6. Plant at Tamara
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The plant in Tamara serves a population of 3500 just west of Tegucigalpa. The plant operates at a flow rate of 738 gallons per minute
Marcala
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h6. Plant at Marcala
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The plant in Marcala was built in partnership with Fred Stotlemeyer and NRWA. It was designed as a retrofit on an existing plant structure. The typical AguaClara layout was altered so that our design would fit in the existing tanks. At the time of completion in July 2008 Marcala was the largest plant designed by AguaClara; currently it has only been surpassed in size by the Gracias plant.
Spring 2006
Ojojona
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h6. Plant at Ojojona
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The Ojojona plant serves a population of 2000 people at a flow rate of 375 L/min. The plant is one of the first to incorporate our current flocculator design--vertical versus horizontal flocculation. This plant also incorporates plate settlers in three sedimentation tanks.
Fall 2004
La34
La 34 was the first plant constructed by the AguaClara team. It is the only plant that uses a horizontal flow flocculator technique.
Project Sites
A complete list of completed designs can be found on the Project Sites page. This page is maintained by students in Honduras working on the plants and supervising the construction. It provides a background of the site, as well as updates regarding construction and operation.
Design Modifications
As the AguaClara team continues to build plants and continues to learn more about the details of optimizing water treatment processes, changes are made to the design algorithms. For an outline of what significant changes we have made designs over the years check out the Design Modifications PageGracias Experimental Set ups
Gracias Design