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

随着全球人口的增加以及全球城市和沿海地区的迅速发展，提供清洁水是一项重大挑战，特别是在基本卫生需求得不到满足的情况下。缺水、卫生条件差和经济差距往往是世界上许多人口稠密的城市地区的特点。毫无疑问，需要新的解决办法，以改善服务不足人口获得清洁水和基本卫生设施的情况。此外，还可以回收能源和资源以实现净零影响的解决方案有可能减轻处理水资源短缺以及能源和粮食安全问题的社区的负担。因此，有必要加强关于导致净零能源和资源使用的分散式废水系统技术(DEWATS)的基本知识。来自圣地亚哥州立大学和波莫纳加州州立理工大学的IRES学生将与夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学(UKZN)合作，为DEWATS中的生物和物理化学过程以及从废水中回收资源和能源的基础研究做出贡献。学生将使用传统方法(微生物技术、水化学和固体分析)和荧光光谱的新应用来评估农业用水再利用的厌氧折流板反应器(ABR)的性能。该IRES项目旨在为美国学生提供一次变革性的科学和文化体验，将促进ABR和其他在南非社区全面实施的DEWATS处理过程的基础知识。该项目是环境工程本科生和研究生访问南非德班UKZN的独特机会，在那里他们将就从废水中回收资源和能源、废水处理和可持续卫生的新视角进行基础研究。在这个为期三年的项目中，15名美国学生将得到支持，从事水、能源和食品相关的新研究，重点是不断增长的城市中心的分散式废水处理系统。学生将在英国污染研究小组的积极研究人员的指导下，在与环境科学家和工程师高度相关的主题上获得丰富的国际经验。这种研究经验将使高水平的本科生具备过渡到研究生院所需的研究技能，并加强研究生参与者的研究和指导技能。美国学生群体将从圣地亚哥州立大学和位于波莫纳的加州州立理工大学招募，包括那些在环境科学和工程领域代表性不足的学生。出发前指导计划旨在促进团队建设、文化敏感性，并为学生进行国际合作研究做好充分准备。作为对该项目进行评价的一部分，以及从一个群体到另一个群体的知识转移，将进行离职调查，并将研究的录像和学生的看法传播给随后的群体。参与者将在UKZN以及当地和区域研究研讨会、专业学会会议或会议上展示他们的研究成果。IRES参与者将通过课外计划为K-12受众开展外联活动。

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 DescriptionThis 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.