INTERDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN THE SERVICE OF THE GLOBAL POOR: THE W.A.S.T.E. PROGRAM

The W.A.S.T.E. (Water and Sewage Transformation Endeavor) is an academic outreach program at Wheaton College in Illinois. Science faculty and undergraduate students form a team to experiment with synthetic and actual sewage in waste water. Project goals include: A) to determine how, via analogue and computer lab methods, important environmental variables affect disinfection; B) to produce a weighted check-list for the evaluation of candidate installation sites; C) to train undergraduate students as authentic research scientists; and D) to educate-train global communities in utilizing low-tech, sustainable waste-water treatment ponds.

Data collected from a full year’s experimentation clearly indicated the effectiveness in pond-stabilization systems for the reduction of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) as a measure of disinfection. The efficacy of these systems is well established in large-scale practice. However, the WASTE program emphasizes smaller-scale operations, as required in many village-type environments, and experimentation has demonstrated the need for proper design and maintenance for sustainability. Lloyd and others (2006) cite that most pond systems worldwide suffer from ineffective operations. Completed and anticipated WASTE experimentation is intended to improve on the weaknesses that plague too many systems.

A second phase of analysis is planned to occur before final installation of pilot systems in strategic venues. Major contrasts between warmer- and cooler-climate environments may necessitate prototype experimentation in a more southerly region than Illinois. It is also hoped that other undergraduate institutions may become partners in this important work.

Lloyd, B. J., A.R. Leitner, and K. Guganesharajah, 2006, Surveillance for Improvement of Waste Stabilsation Ponds: Cambridge, UK, Mott MacDonald Ltd, 156p.