RAPID: Avoiding Secondary Disasters: Wastewater Treatment Design and (Re)construction during Large-Scale Disaster Response

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1539775GoughThe aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast demonstrated the potential for severe environmental impacts to area waterways caused by displaced populations overwhelming wastewater treatment facilities in host communities. The call for scholarly literature on rapid response for wastewater treatment recovery after disasters has gone largely unanswered. This proposal addresses a window of opportunity for obtaining data on the wastewater treatment response in a refugee camp in the Azraq region of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where the population is expected to swell from 10,000 to over 100,000 during the next year.A moving-bed biofilm reactor was installed for wastewater treatment at this camp in December 2014. The camp population will grow substantially while the moving-bed biofilm reactors will be brought on-line. Study of this unprecedented period of scale-up will fill a data void regarding both the function of moving-bed biofilm reactor, which are un-tested for extreme high loading conditions, and the response of these extreme conditions on operator decision making. During disaster response, such as this response to displaced persons, infrastructure decisions must be made rapidly and often lead to misinformed decisions. Several organizations have developed guidance for effective (re)construction (i.e. adjusts to the original design after initial construction) by revisiting projects after completion. Those efforts are incremental mainly focused on descriptive solutions, and have rarely considered the wastewater treatment infrastructure. In fact, pit toilets and latrines are among the most common recommendations for displaced populations when local (host) community wastewater facilities cannot accommodate the extra flow. However, lack of treatment places already vulnerable populations at risk of waterborne diseases and places the local area at risk of long-term environmental impacts. Thus, Azraq is a unique study situation in which decisions have been made to use modern wastewater treatment technologies in a situation where many of the treatment system design parameters were unknown so that informed and organized (re)construction decisions will be critical to operational success. This project will establish a framework for coordinated comparison of the decision making framework on wastewater treatment performance under real-time, high-stress operations. This project combines advancements in two disciplines and will examine the complex relationship between people driven actions through a decision making process and the impact on a wastewater treatment system measured by its environmental qualities. Understanding delivery of wastewater treatment at the Azraq refugee camp will establish a framework against which research into other disaster response situations can be compared. This project will be of broad interest, as the Middle East conflicts are gaining more media coverage with increased US involvement, and will help educate the general public on the importance of wastewater treatment in times of crisis. Collaboration between University of Washington and the Jordan University for Science and Technology will increase the international collaboration of the investigators.