RAPID: Assessing the Impact of Internal Refugees on Hospital Water and Wastewater Infrastructure and Its Implications for Future Sustainable Treatment Designs

主要调查者：Stephanie LansingProposal No：1034836这项工作利用了2008年马里兰大学的Lansing博士收集的地震前数据，这些数据是关于海地昌吉的健康伙伴(PIH)医疗综合体的废水处理需求和能源基础设施。PIH医院是海地设备最齐全的医院之一，接收了迅速涌入的国内难民。以2008年的数据为对照，将量化地震后水、废水和能源需求的变化，并将开发一个灵活和可持续的系统，以快速扩大废物处理和能源生产能力。具体地说，该项目将(1)通过后续调查评估地震后环境中关键医疗基础设施的废水和能源需求，并将这些数据与震前数据进行比较，以量化内部避难所对废水和能源基础设施的影响；(2)通过采用废水处理、能源生产和液体肥料制造的生物消化器，为满足规划中的难民社区的废水和能源需求创造一个可持续的设计，并将这一适当的处理技术与农业和水培系统相结合；(3)实施灵活和适应性强的生物消化系统，以满足幸存的医疗综合体不断增加的能源和水需求。这项工作将与一个由工程师、科学家和大学学生组成的团队协商完成。他是马里兰州克莱姆森大学和私人执业律师，他们以前在海地有过经验，并与PIH设施的海地工程、农学家和社区外联同行建立了良好的融洽关系。申请的资金将用于支付工资和研究助理，以收集和分析水文数据，购买计量设备以量化水和沼气流量，以及往返海地的国际旅行。文献强调了评估和优先考虑短期饮用水和废水需求的重要性，以维持灾后人口的短期公共健康，但尽管学术界对此类评估达成了共识，但文献很少量化一个国家的哪个组成部分？S强调了卫生基础设施。同样，关于如何快速、负担得起和可持续地重建这些基础设施的研究也很少。这项拟议的研究旨在通过量化海地现有医疗基础设施的能源需求和废水量的变化来满足这一需求-S地震后立即发生的环境，并利用这些数据为设计一个创新的生物消化系统提供信息，该系统将能源生产、作物发展和水再利用纳入其处理模式。通过使用适当的技术设计水处理和能源生产，将产生一个可持续的重建海地被最近地震摧毁的社区的模式。非政府组织和海地政府机构可以利用2010年夏季设计和实施这一生物沼气池设计的经验教训，设计难民营的景观，包括通过生物沼气池处理废物，将水培花园与分水点的污水连接起来，并在生物沼气池设施附近包含可持续的种植区，以接收富含肥料的污水。在这种模式中，废物被用作能源生产、灌溉和化肥。由于需要烹调木炭，海地的农业受到了土壤侵蚀的破坏。通过利用废物并以沼气的形式创造能源，同时为作物生产提供养分和水，所展示的设计将对一个拥有独特机会以可持续方式设计人类与环境相结合的景观的国家产生巨大影响。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)共同资助。

Principal Investigator: Stephanie LansingProposal No: 1034836This work takes advantage of pre-earthquake data, collected in 2008 by Dr. Lansing of the University of Maryland, on the wastewater treatment needs and energy infrastructure of the Partners in Health (PIH) medical complex in Cange, Haiti. The PIH hospital is one of the most well equipped hospitals in Haiti and has received a rapid influx of internal refugees. Using the 2008 data as a control, the post-earthquake change in water, wastewater, and energy needs will be quantified and a flexible and sustainable system for rapid expansion of the waste treatment and energy production capacity will be developed. Specifically, this project will (1) assess the wastewater and energy needs of critical medical infrastructure in a post earthquake environment through a follow-up survey and compare this data to pre-earthquake data in order to quantify the impact of internal refuges on wastewater and energy infrastructure, (2) create a sustainable design for meeting wastewater and energy demands in planned refugees communities by incorporating biodigesters for wastewater treatment, energy production, and liquid fertilizer creation and couple this appropriate treatment technology with agriculture and hydroponic systems, and (3) implement a flexible and adaptable biodigestion system for meeting increased energy and water demand in a surviving medical complex. The work will be done in consultation with a team of engineers, scientists, and students from the Univ. of Maryland, Clemson Univ., and private practice that have previous experience in Haiti and have developed an excellent rapport with the Haitian engineering, agriculturalist, and community outreach counterparts at the PIH facility. The funds requested will be used to pay salary and research assistants to collect and analyze hydrologic data, purchase metering equipment to quantify water and biogas flows, and international travel to and from Haiti.Literature has stressed the importance of assessing and prioritizing the immediate potable water and wastewater needs for maintaining the short-term public health of the post-disaster population, but despite the academic consensus for these types of assessments, the literature rarely quantifies the degree to which components of a country?s health infrastructure is stressed. Similarly, there is a paucity of research on how this infrastructure can be rebuilt quickly, affordably, and sustainably. This proposed research seeks to fill this need by quantifying the change in energy demand and wastewater quantity on the existing health care infrastructure in Haiti?s immediate post-earthquake environment and use this data to inform the design of an innovative biodigestion system that incorporates energy production, crop development, and water reuse in its treatment model.By designing for water treatment and energy production using an appropriate technology, a sustainable model for rebuilding Haitian communities devastated by the recent earthquake will be produced. The lessons learned from the design and implementation of this biodigester design in the Summer of 2010 can be used by NGOs and Haitian governmental agencies for designing refugee camps with landscapes that incorporate waste treatment through biodigesters, have hydroponic gardens connected to the effluent from water distribution points, and contain sustainable cropping areas near the biodigester facility to receive the fertilizer-rich effluent. In this model, waste is used as a resource for energy production, irrigation and fertilizer. Agriculture in Haiti has been devastated by soil erosion caused by the need for cooking charcoal. By taking a waste and creating energy in the form of biogas while providing nutrients and water for crop production, the designs presented will have a large impact on a country that has a unique opportunity to design the landscape in a way that integrates humans and the environment in a sustainable manner.This award is co-funded by the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).