9/29/08-10/03/08

Accomplishments

• Some organization changes made to the wiki
• Completed teach-in on Tuesday
• Fabricated the seal to prevent water from going to the sed tank
• New part came in to control the leakage in the upflow controller
• Acquired new team member "Tom" from the Flocculator

Outcomes

• Should be able to test the vertical flocculators now that the water cannot get to the sed tanks.
• Class is now informed about the workings at the pilot plant, and we also have a better understanding.

Metrics

• N/A

Issues

• Information from the wiki is hard to divide into the four headings. Some overlap, but will try to finish that for next week
• Still unable to experiment with the sed tanks, but that should change soon.

9/22/08-9/28/08

Sedimentation

Accomplishments

• Read the wiki to get a better grasp of the project
• Prepared for the teach-in for Tuesday
• Went to the plant (9/25) to discuss potential solutions to the leakage in the upflow bucket
• Obtained 0.5" diameter caps for the lamella rods and the materials to seal the pipe to the sed tanks

Outcomes

• Still unable to operate the plant due to leakage in the bucket that controls upflow velocity
• Tom suggested replacing bucket with 12" diameter PVC pipe to prevent leaking
• Will concentrate on wiki organization until plant is running again

Metrics

• N/A

Issues

• Bucket is leaking, even after multiple attempts to caulk, seal, and waterproof

9/15/08-9/21/08

Accomplishments

• Julia and Kellie finished caulking the pipes.
• Team reviewed wiki pages.
• Team met at pilot plant on 09/18/08.
• Julia discussed with Sarah the configuration of the tube flocculator and the alum does needed to form a floc blanket over time.
• Team goals for the semester were updated.

Outcomes

• Could not fully start up the plant because some of the caulk is not dry.
• Much of the sludge build-up was pumped out of the tank.
• Work on the wiki page was discussed and divided up among the sub-teams. Christine will work on the Tube Flocculator pages, while Kellie and Shaina rearrange different parts of the Sedimentation Tank page.

Metrics

• N/A

Issues

• Our method for pumping sludge out of the tank is unnecessarily time-consuming. We will try to find a different way.
• Since we could not start up the plant, Shaina will return on 09/19/08 to check the caulk and begin the running the plant with a 20 mg/L alum dose if the caulk is dry. We need to run the plant consistently at this concentration for some time before we can form a floc blanket.

9/8/08-9/14/08

Accomplishments

• Kellie and Julia went to pilot plant on 9/6/08 for training with Sara.
• Sara, Kellie, Julia and Shaina started plant on 9/10/08. Sarah introduced the team to process controller.
• Team met 9/10/08 and created Fall 2008 task list.
• Team went to the pilot plant to caulk leaky pipe, restring tube flocculator, and secure pipes connecting the lamella.

Outcomes

• The seal between the flocculator and sed tank is ineffective. The plant was turned off so that leaky pipe connecting the flocculator to the sed tank can be caulked.
• caps for pipes were the wrong size
• flocculator was restrung.

Metrics

• N/A

Issues

• If possible a new configuration for tube flocculator will be hung that does not pinch tube.
• need to finish caulking pipe.
• need correct caps to secure lamella
• Next week Shaina and Kellie will work on forming a sludge blanket in the sed tanks once the tube is caulked. Julia and Christine will work on measuring turbidity in the tube flocculator.