Through American Structurepoint, students are helping a town in Colorado. The Town of Alma, Colorado, collects wastewater from the town’s residents and businesses and treats the wastewater in a three-cell lagoon system. The lagoon system does not efficiently meet the ammonia discharge limits and it presumably cannot, in its current configuration, meet the anticipated phosphorus discharge limits.

The TW Moses water treatment facility uses a high rate ballasted flocculation activated carbon (ActiCarb) system to help remove taste and odor components from raw water. The system is used intermittently due to seasonal needs. Due to the complexity of the system, the polymer feed system has been identified as an area of improvement.

Westfield is a fast-growing community located on the north side of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is served by a 3 million gallons per day (MGD) wastewater plant, which is managed by Citizens Energy Group (CEG), originally constructed in 1997 and expanded in 2004. CEG plans to implement an expansion to the existing plant to increase the average daily flow (ADF) capacity to 6 MGD prior to 2020 but also wishes to evaluate expansion up to a 12 MGD ADF capacity to meet anticipated growth. It is expected that the Westfield system demand will continue to grow requiring a plant with an ADF capacity of 12 MGD by 2035. To prepare for these expansions CEG is initiating a Facility Expansion Plan to evaluate the options to expand the treatment process and solids handling to provide the required capacity.

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) provides a high-level analysis of climate science and the probable impacts of climate change. The NCA includes regional scale assessments and guidelines for mitigation, adaptation, and decision making. It has been demonstrated that some of the most effective actions for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are planned and implemented by communities at the local scale. Mayor John Dennis is one of 359 US mayors to sign on to the Mayor’s Climate Agreement, pledging to honor and uphold the tenets of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. In July 2017, the West Lafayette City Council unanimously supported Resolution NO. 10-17, affirming West Lafayette’s commitment to a greener, more sustainable future.

Agricultural crop protection formulations are comprised of active ingredients, surfactants, solvents, and other constituents. Many manufacturers are seeking information about which parts of a product lifecycle exert the greatest impact on the environment to create a more environmentally friendly product.

Marion Utilities recently assumed responsibility for managing the community’s Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The amount of MSW generated has nearly doubled in a short time. Marion Utilities is seeking alternatives to increase the capacity to process MSW. The General Motors Marion facility is interested in partnering with Marion Utilities as a purchaser of the syngas or electricity from a waste to energy system.

Estimates suggest there are more than one billion motorized vehicles in use globally. Each of these vehicles contains a lead acid battery. Lead acid batteries provide electricity storage service for many additional applications as well. With such high use, there is a robust market for recycling lead. Lead is the most recycled metal in the world and is produced more from recycled material than from virgin mined material.

Conventional electricity generation is inherently inefficient with only about a third of the consumed fuel being converted into electricity. Steam that is typically discharged as waste heat can be recovered and used for building heating. During summer months recovered steam can power chillers to produce cooling water for building air conditioning systems. Worldwide these facilities are known as Combined Heat and Power (CHP), cogeneration or district energy systems.

Wabash National Corporation is the largest truck trailer manufacturer in North America. Its Lafayette operations have been ISO 14001 registered since 2005. The ISO 14000 family of standards provides practical tools for any company to create an effective environmental management system. The newly revised ISO 14001:2015 standard now includes a life cycle component.