IRES: US-South Africa Collaboration on Sustainable Sanitation and Energy and Resource Recovery from Wastewater

San Diego State University Foundation, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

Technical Description With the rise in global population and rapid growth of urban and coastal areas worldwide, providing clean water is a major challenge particularly when basic sanitation needs are not met. Water scarcity, poor sanitation, and economic disparity tend to characterize many densely populated urban areas throughout the world. There is no doubt that new solutions are needed to improve the availability of clean water and basic sanitation for underserved populations. Moreover, solutions that also recover energy and resources for net-zero impact have the potential to lessen the burden for communities dealing with water scarcity, and energy and food security issues. Consequently, there is a need to improve fundamental knowledge on decentralized wastewater systems technologies (DEWATS) that lead to net-zero energy and resource use. IRES students from San Diego State University and California State Poly-technical University in Pomona will contribute to fundamental research in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) on biological and physico-chemical processes in DEWATS and resource and energy recovery from wastewater. Students will use traditional methods (microbiological techniques, water chemistry and solids analyses) and novel applications of fluorescence spectroscopy to evaluate the performance of an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) with water reuse for agricultural applications. This IRES project aims to be a transformative scientific and cultural experience for US students that will advance fundamental knowledge of ABR and other DEWATS treatment processes implemented at the full-scale in South African communities. Broader Description This project is a unique opportunity for environmental engineering undergraduate and graduate students to visit the UKZN in Durban, South Africa, where they will conduct fundamental research on resource and energy recovery from wastewater, new perspectives on wastewater treatment, and sustainable sanitation. Over the course of the three year project, fifteen US students will be supported to work on novel research at the nexus of water, energy, and food with a focus on decentralized wastewater treatment systems in growing urban centers. Students will be mentored by active research faculty at the Pollution Research Group at UKZN and obtain an enriching international experience on topics highly relevant for environmental scientists and engineers. This research experience will equip upper-level undergraduates with research skills needed to transition to graduate school and strengthen the research and mentoring skills of graduate student participants. The US student cohorts will be recruited from groups, including those underrepresented in environmental science and engineering, at San Diego State University and California State Poly-technical University in Pomona. A pre-departure orientation program is designed to promote team building, cultural sensitivity, and adequate preparation for students to conduct collaborative research internationally. As part of the evaluation of this project and for knowledge transfer from cohort-to-cohort, exit surveys will be conducted and videos of the research and student perceptions will be disseminated to subsequent cohorts. Participants will present their research at UKZN and at local and regional research symposia, professional society meetings, or conferences. IRES participants will conduct outreach for K-12 audiences via after-school programs.