Social Innovation: The power behind this practice

 

 

Hi everyone!

Last week we discussed some of the current failures of wastewater treatment structure and how can these problems be solved  in order to improve the wastewater treatment system for the next years. However, it is not only the wastewater treatment structure that needs to be changed, the community also needs to change their vision about wastewater. One of the greatest tools to change their vision is through  social innovation.

You may be asking what is social innovation? well, social innovation refers to new ideas with the objective of solving a social problem and be more efficient, effective and sustainable than current solutions. These innovations can be a product or also a service that can encourage a change in the community about a specific topic, for example, environment.

Definition sometimes is not the best way of explaining something, so below you can watch a video which explains better the concept behind social innovation:

A social innovation not necessary needs to be a technological or complex product, it just needs to have as one of its key principles the mission of trying to solve or minimize a social problem. One of the main social problems is the lack of water in some areas. In order to reduce the water consumption, it is a good idea promotes a product which allows the reuse of water for another activity. An example of one product that performs this is the case of a designer who created a different washbasin which allows the watering of plants  using part of the water used in the hand washing. You probably wondering about the soap that may be in contact with the plant, but don´t worry, this alternative washbasin retains the soap and only lets the water drains to the plants. Awesome right?! You can see an image of this system below:

Figure 1: Alternative Washbasin

Social innovation is a great tool to reduces impacts in the environment. However, an innovation created to be used in Australia, for example, not necessary will be successful in Brazil, seeing that these countries are different from each other in the social, economic and culture aspects, for example. So, it is clear that for a social innovation created in one country be successful in other is quite difficult.

Even in one country, the implementation of a new idea is a challenging situation due to the fact that is difficult to change the mentality of individuals, considering that, usually, we a reluctant to new products that are completely different from the products that we normally use. Therefore,  the company needs to convince the consumer  that its new product or service is more efficient, effective and sustainable than the current product or service. 

You may be questioning: How can this be done? 

One of the most effective strategies for a product spread around  is through the use of marketing. This strategy is an essential factor for the success of a new product, seeing that the use of marketing is capable of not only promote a product or service but also highlight the qualities of this new concept. Consequently, this can make the consumers change their opinion about this new idea. In other words, marketing is one of the main options for a company or individual promotes a new product or service.

Now that we discussed the importance of marketing for the success of a new product or service, it´s time to show you an example of a new packing material from one of the Coca-Cola products is a valuable case of a new product that follows the characteristic of a social innovation.

In the innovation of Coca-Cola company, the packing material of the bottle of its water mineral product was completely changed. As a result, it was verified a reduction of 20% of the PET used in this product. Further,  the new design makes this bottle easily to be twisted after use which reduces its volume and consequently facilitates the selective collection and transport of this product. As a marketing strategy, the advertisement encourages that after consumes the water present in this bottle, the customers should twist this bottle and make a wish. Considering what I mentioned about the benefits of this new material design, this request aims to encourage the consumers twisted these bottles and thus facilitates the process of collection and transport of this product after use.  

• Please enable the subtitle of the video above 

 

As we can see social innovation is  a powerful alternative to solve many of the social problems that we face worldwide and thus, should be more encouraged by government, companies and community. What your opinion about this topic and the innovative ideas presented? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Thanks for reading! 

REFERENCE 

• Article:

JAEGER-ERBEN, M., RÜCKERT-JOHN, J. & SCHÄFER, M. 2015. Sustainable consumption through social innovation: a typology of innovations for sustainable consumption practices. Journal of Cleaner Production, 108, Part A, 784-798.

• Website

http://tacsi.org.au/

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/centers-initiatives/csi/defining-social-innovation

https://hypescience.com/as-10-ideias-sustentaveis-mais-curiosas/

http://embalagemsustentavel.com.br/2011/11/16/agua-crystal-torcida/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wastewater treatment system: It´s time to change!

 

Hi everyone!

Now that we have discussed about the main constituents of wastewater and the problem faced by developing countries related to the removal of nutrients and talked about the regulations behind the wastewater system and how can alternatives water supply options be a possible solution for water crisis, it´s time to talk about some failures verified in the wastewater infrastructure and how can these problems be solved in order to improve the wastewater treatment situation.

The current situation of wastewater treatment system is problematic, considering that the treatment plant is responsible for treating not only the sewage but also other residues discharged illegally in the wastewater collection system. This situation compromises the wastewater pipes, seeing that these pipes were designed to transport sewage and not urban solid residues. As a result, the sewer lines can clog which causes an inconvenient problem for the wastewater treatment company. Relating to the efficiency of this treatment, the additional residues can overload the system, thus reducing the treatment efficiency  seeing that, in the biological treatment stage, for example, the excess of organic matter in this wastewater may not be totally decomposed by bacteria which results in a decrease in the removal of organic matter.

In the case of maintenance cost, many wastewaters companies commit a huge mistake due to the fact that depending on the treatment method used, the production of methane during the treatment is considerable. As everyone knows, this gas has high volatility  and is considered as a greenhouse gas. Therefore, if the amount of methane produced is considerable than this gas can be used as a fuel source. Otherwise, it should be flared in order to emit carbonic gas, which has a lower Global Warming Potential than methane. 

The use of methane as a fuel source has many advantages, one of them is the fact that with this practice, the wastewaters companies can save money owing to the fact that they can use this fuel in the treatment plant, considering that in some stages of the process is necessary electricity.  However, mostly part of the wastewaters companies don´t implement a system to recover this gas and thus, this gas ends up being released to the atmosphere.

Considering how the wastewater treatment system is articulated, in which the wastewater company is responsible for treating all the wastewater of the residences, it´s clear that this structure can’t continue this way due to the fact that the wastewater treatment plants are already overloaded with the quantity of sewage that they need to treat and the trend is that this quantity increases more and more over the years. So, they need to change this structure because otherwise in a close future this system will fail

An alternative system consists of decentralising  the wastewater treatment plant. In other words, instead of just one or two wastewater treatment plants be responsible for treating all the sewage of the city what can be done is implement in residential condominiums a small wastewater treatment plant  that aims that these places treat their own sewage. As a result, the amount of sewage that the wastewater company would be responsible for treating will be lower. Furthermore, depending on the efficiency of the treatment plant of these condominiums, this water can be reused in these residences, which provides a reduction in the use of potable water in these places and also a reduction in the water bills.

 Another problem of the current wastewater treatment system is the fact that they  should use more alternative solutions, like for example constructed wetlands. This system can be an awesome option for treating wastewater from small communities due to the fact that constructed wetlands usually required a large area, which turns this system difficult to be used for big cities. The constructed wetlands can also be used for treating wastewater of industries, including industries that generate wastewater containing heavy metals.

Figure 1: Constructed Wetlands

As we can see the current wastewater treatment system need some changes in order to improve its efficiency and also solve some problems in its structure. What do you think about the current situation of wastewater and the solutions proposed? Let me know your opinion in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

 

REFERENCE:

• Articles:

Cakir, F.Y & Stenstrom, M.K (2005). Greenhouse gas production: A comparison between aerobic and anaerobic wastewater treatment technology, 4197-4203.

El-Fadel, M & Massoud, M. (2001). Methane emissions from wastewater management, 177-185

Khan, S., Ahmad, I., Shah, M. T., Rehman, S. & Khaliq, A. (2009). Use of constructed wetland for the removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater. Journal of Environmental Management, 90, 3451-3457.

Noyola, A (2006). Treatment of biogas produced in anaerobic reactors for domestic wastewater: odor control and energy/resource recovery, 93-114

• Website:

https://www.angieslist.com/articles/warning-signs-main-sewer-line-clog.htm

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/How-It-Works–Constructed-Wetland/691232-1435878-2jijul/index.html

Reuse of water: Critical review

 

One of the major concerns of a city is related to the water supply. The overconsumption of this resource by the community overload  the hydrology system due to the necessity of collect more and more water from river, lakes and others sources in order to supply the demand. As a result, this practice can compromise not only the human´s use but also fauna and flora . Combined with this situation, many cities are located in areas where are verified a low annual rainfall which compromises the recharge of the water´s source of these cities.

One of the cities that is facing problems related to  low annual rainfall is Perth. Between 1990 to 1990, the average annual rainfall registered for Perth was 766mm but since 2009 this amount has dropped to just 656 mm. As a result, the Western Australia Water Corporation was forced to rethink its water supply system. One of the main sources of Perth´s pubic water supply comes from the Gnangara Mound (Figure 1). The Gnangara Mound is a big aquifer located north of perth. This system is considered  the largest source of fresh water in Perth that is responsible for providing over 40% of the drinking water consumed by the residents of Perth.

 

 Figure 1: The Gnangara groundwater system

The groundwater levels of the Gnangara mound have decreased all over the last 40 years due to the reduction of rainfall combined with the continuous use of this resource as Perth´s water supply. One of the ideas to change this situation, was the injection of treated wastewater into Gnangara mound. As a result, the Western Australia Water Corporation provides an alternative solution for recharging this aquifer and with this increase its groundwater level.

 

As we can see, the solution for the water supply crisis in Perth passes for the practice of recycling/reusing water.  Another alternative solution is the reuse of greywater. Greywater refers to the wastewater from baths, bathroom basins and laundries excluding water from toilet, which is considered as blackwater. This option can provide some benefits such as: reduction of  the use of potable water, reduction of the wastewater discharged in ocean or river and reduction in the household bills. 

The composition of greywater and consequently its quality depends on many factors, like for example, the number of residants, water source, products used (soap,shampoo, hygiene products). Therefore is necessary a specific legislation for this type of water in order to regulate and control its use. Basically the greywater reuse system is divided into two main areas: untreated and treated. 

The division between treated and untreated is used to define the approval reuses for greywater, for example, to be used in single domestic premises (Table 1). In the case of Western Australia, since 2010 there is a code of practice for the reuse of greywater. This code provide, among other thinks, a guide with information about the types of greywater system, how to calculate the volume of greywater generated in a house and define the uses permitted.

Table 1: Approved uses of Greywater for Single Domestic Premises 

Due to the fact that greywater may contain high levels of some dangerous substance, such as, pathogenic organisms, chemical substances derived from soaps, detergents, disinfectants, this water must not be put in direct contact with vegetables or other plants eaten uncooked. Related to the storage of the greywater, for treated greywater it´s permitted the storage of this water for more than 24 hours. However, for untreated greywater this is not allowed.

Considering that greywater contains nutrients generated from the laundry and bathroom and that two of the nutrients necessary for a plant to grow are nitrogen and phosphorus, the reuse of greywater in gardens and lawns can reduce the application of fertilisers in these environments. However, if  the greywater presents high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus, its used should be avoided in order to prevent damage not only for the plants, but also for the  soil and groundwater of this area. Other substances that can harm the soil if present in high concentration in the greywater are salts. In high concentration these substances can cause a reduction in the soil permeability which can result in a degradation of the vegetation present in this area.

As we can see  the recycle/reuse of water can bring many benefits for the community and in many cases be one of the best solution for a city. Therefore, the reuse of water must be encouraged. However, in order to used this water supply with security and in a correct way, it´s essential that the reuse of water happen following some regulations.  

So what do you think about the reuse of water? Do you agree or not? Let me know your opinion in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

 

Reference  

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27225396

http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/~/media/Files/Corporate/general%20documents/water/Wastewater/COP-Greywater-Reuse-2010_v2_130103.ashx

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/latest/a/17658024/recycled-sewage-to-water-perth-parks/#page1

http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/U_Z/Water-legislations-and-guidelines

http://www.water.wa.gov.au/urban-water/water-recycling-efficiencies/waterwise-community-toolkit/greywater

http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Greywater

http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/~/media/Files/Corporate/general%20documents/water/Recycling/Guidelines%20for%20the%20Non-potable%20Uses%20of%20Recycled%20Water%20in%20WA_140620.ashx

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/oct/06/perth-western-australia-drought-climate-change-water

https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply-and-services/solutions-to-perths-water-supply/groundwater-replenishment?pid=res-wss-spw-np-gr

https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply-and-services/solutions-to-perths-water-supply/water-recycling?pid=res-wss-spw-np-wr

http://www.water.wa.gov.au/water-topics/groundwater/understanding-groundwater/gnangara-groundwater-system

Nitrogen and Phosphorus: Challenge for developing countries

 

Most people unknown the issues that wastewater can generated for environment and humans. As a result they, usually, don´t care about how their waste should be disposal, they just want to throw it away . This point of view makes people disposal their residues in a incorrect way which eventually interfere in the compounds of sewage that arrives in the wastewater treatment plant. Depending on the treatment method applied some of the substances present in this effluent will not be satisfactory removed. Consequently, the efluent discharged by the wastewater treatment plant can harm not only the species that lives near the discharging area of the treatment plant but also the communities that use the water from this area. .  

Two of the main constituents found in the wastewater are  nitrogen and phosphorus. These substances are found in the water in the form of nitrates and orthophosphate, respectively. High concentration of nitrates in surface water or drinking water can cause disease in humans and eutrophication in lakes. The same effects can happen in case of high levels of phosphorus in drinking water or surface water. Considering these facts, it´s clear that both substances are dangerous for the environment and humans. However, analysing the treatment system used worldwide we can verify that in many countries the treatment method used is not capable of removing these constituents in a satisfactory rate.

In the case of developing countries, one of the treatment method usually used for the treatment of wastewater is the UASB Reactor (Figure 1). This method consist of a sludge bed, a sludge blanket and a gas-liquid-solid separator (GLS). Due to its configuration, this system has a high efficiency in the removal of coliforms, DBO and suspended solids. Further, this method requires a low space, comparing with others methods (e.g stabilization ponds), has a low energy consumption and low sludge production. As can be seen by these advantages mentioned, it´s comprehensive why developing countries choose this method for treating their sewage instead of others. However, one of the main disadvantages of this technology is that this method doesn´t have a satisifactory  efficiency in the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. Therefore, in order to achieve an acceptable removal efficiency for these two parameters it’s necessary a complementary treatment.  However, great part of these countries don´t have a post-treatment to remove these substance 

 

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of UASB reactor , modified from (van Haandel & Lettinga, 1994)

In order to change this scenario, it´s necessary that the  post-treatment plant not only increase the removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus but also that this system fits into the reality of  developing countries, in other words, this treatment system need to have, for example, low maintenance cost,  low energy input and be adaptable to the climate of these places because otherwise these countries will not be interest in implement a additional treatment plant to remove these nutrients. Considering these points, one possible alternative is the use of constructed wetlands for this purpose due to the fact that  this system has a good cost-benefit and has a high efficiency in the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus.

So what do you think about the use of this treatment as a way of reducing the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in the wastewater treated using UASB reactor?Let me know your opinion about this topic 🙂 

Thanks for reading!

REFERENCE

• Blog Reference:

CHERNICHARO, C. A. L., VAN LIER, J. B., NOYOLA, A. & BRESSANI RIBEIRO, T. 2015. Anaerobic sewage treatment: state of the art, constraints and challenges. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 14, 649679. 

JASPER, J. T., JONES, Z. L., SHARP, J. O. & SEDLAK, D. L. 2014. Nitrate Removal in Shallow, Open-Water Treatment Wetlands. Environmental Science & Technology, 48, 11512-11520

SEGHEZZO, L., ZEEMAN, G., VAN LIER, J. B., HAMELERS, H. V. M. & LETTINGA, G. 1998. A review: The anaerobic treatment of sewage in UASB and EGSB reactors. Bioresource Technology, 65, 175-190.  

VAN HAANDEL, A. C. & LETTINGA, G. 1994. Anaerobic Sewage Treatment. A Practical Guide for Regions with a Hot Climate. John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Chichester.  

VYMAZAL, J. 2011. Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: Five Decades of Experience. Environmental Science & Technology, 45, 61-69. 

• Vlog Reference:

DE SOUSA, J. T., VAN HAANDEL, A., LIMA, E. P. C. & GUIMARAES, A. V. A. 2003. Performance of constructed wetland systems treating anerobic effluents. Water Science and Technology, 48, 295-299.

DE SOUSA, J. T., VAN HAANDEL, A. C. & GUIMARÃES, A. A. V. 2001. Posttreatment of anaerobic effluents in constructed wetland systems. Water Science and Technology, 44, 213-219.

SOUSA, J. T. D., VAN HAANDEL, A., LIMA, E. P. D. C. & HENRIQUE, I. N. 2004. Utilização de wetland construído no pós-tratamento de esgotos domésticos prétratados em reator UASB. Engenharia Sanitaria e Ambiental, 9, 285-290. 

 

The environmental capital as a way of improving the engineering projects

Hi everyone, today I´m going to talk about how the environmental capital can be used to improve engineering projects. As it is well known, in the last years was verified a huge expansion of the communities. Keeping in mind that one of the key factors for this development was the use of natural sources, it´s easy to understand why the consumption of this resource had a drastic increase over the last few years. As a result of the overconsumption, the environment has been significantly deteriorated. One example of this deterioration is the reduction of biodiversity.

The Biodiversity of an environment is essential  for the communities due to the fact that the organisms are directly response not only for the production of food but also in the process of water and wastewater treatment (National Wildlife Federation, 2011).

 Considering what I have mentioned above, it´s clear that the humanity is using the natural sources without thinking about the consequences that this action can generated for the ecosystem and also for the human´s life. The use of ecosystem resources need to be done in a conscious way in order to minimize the impact on the environment.

In order to change this mentality, was proposed the idea of adopting a value for the ecosystem services which refer to all the functions, goods and processes derived from the earth necessary for the human life These services were divided into four categories by the Millennium Ecosystem Assesment:

⇒  Provisioning services (e.g food and water)

⇒  Regulating services (e.g. climate regulation and water purification

⇒  Supporting services (e.g. soil formation and nutrient cycling)

⇒  Cultural services (e.spiritual and recreational)

This evaluation was made using estimates based on some calculations and published studies (Costanza et al.1997). A summary of the annual value of some ecosystem services can be seen in the Figure below:

 

Figure 1: Summary of average global value of annual ecosystem services

“How can this strategy be useful to reduce the use of the ecosystem services ?” That´s the question that most people ask for themself. Don´t you think that if the ecosystem service is considered as ”free”,  people will give a low rating for the  importance that the ecosystem perform for the humanity?  Defining an economic value for the ecosystem services helps to develop the idea that the role performed by the environment is very important for the humanity. So, to use natural resources the company or the community need to pay an amount of money in order to compensate the impact generated in this area. Taking into consideration that if a company or a community consumes more the natural resources they will need to pay more for this . Thus, they will probably try to reduce the comsumption with the objetive goal aim of reducing the spends. As a result, the engineering projects will be designed using the sustainability concept as basis of the project.

As can be seen in the economic estimation of ecosystem services made by Costanza et al.1997 , one of the ecosystem services that has a high economic value is the wetlands. This environment can provide many benefits for the human´s life. One of them is that wetlands can be used as a way of treating wastewater. The use of this system is increasing over the last few years, however, considering the benefits of this type of treatment, such as high efficiency in the removal of nutrients and low maintenance cost, its use should be more encouraged (Maine et al. 2006). But how can this be done? Using the concept of the economic value adopted for ecosystem service! Keeping in mind that this ecosystem has a huge value, instead of destroying this areas, the industries and companies can use this system for personal benefit  without causing major impacts for this ecosystem. Considering that industries and companies generate wastewater during their process, instead of discharge this sewage  in the area without the proper treatment, they can use the wetland as a treatment plant, but of course this need to be done in a conscious way to avoid the pollution of this environment.  

As we can see in this alternative way of treating wastewater, the environmental capital can motivate the conscious use of the ecosystem service in the engineering projects!

Watch my video below to see my opinion about this topic!

 

Energy efficiency in the engineering projects

Hi everyone, today I´m going to talk about the principle that I believe is one of the key factors for an eco-engineering project be successful which is the energy efficiency  of the project. According to Bergen et al. (2001), the Ecological engineering was created due to the necessity of combine human welfare and the protection of the natural environment in the engineering practice. How can a project be eco-friendly if it  has not a high energy efficiency? It´s sounds contradictory, don’t you think?! So, in order to minimize the impacts on the the natural environment, it´s necessary that the use of energy by the system be the lowest possible . In other words, that the system be projected using the self sustainability concept.. However, how can this be done? That´s the question that engineers always do for yourself in every engineering project!

Over the past years, the investments in the fuel source area have a huge and the reason for that is related with the fact that the use of fossil fuels as the main source of fuel is unsustainable, not only for  economic reasons but also because of the environment. The extensive use of these sources generated many consequences for the environment, such as increase of the global warming, deterioration of the air quality and increase of the acid rain. Considering the economic aspect, the fact that this source is non-renewable combined with the extensive use of its by countries makes the barrel price of petroleum being very unstable. Therefore, the use of renewable sources is currently being encouraged.   

As it is well known, the renewable sources have many  benefits, such as, generated less impacts for the environment and usually are cheaper than non-renewable energy. However, how can this power supply be applied in an engineering project and improve the energy efficiency of this system? Let´s take the example of the design behind the construction of the Garden by the Bay in Singapore to answer this question.

Garden by the bay is a botanic complex constructed in singapore which was designed to be the main symbol of the revitalization process that has been occurring in singapore for over the past 4 decades. This project has been coordinated by the National Park Board and was designed using the most modern principles of the sustainable engineering. As a result, the project was made in order to allow this structure to use the natural source as power supply. One example that illustrates this characteristic is the Supertrees. These trees are composed by a concrete core surrounded by steel cladding arrangement and on their canopies are located some photovoltaic cells. As a consequence, this system produces electricity that is used for lighting up the Supertree. Furthermore, the Supertree together with the Conservatories serve as air exhaust receptacles.

The Conservatories are two domes which basically replicate the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean  and the cool-moist climate of the Tropical Montane region. Due to the materials and the design of these structures, it can reduce the solar heat gain, cool only the occupied zones, dehumidify the air before cooling and produce energy. In the garden by the bay also has a Garden lake system which works as a natural filtration structure for the water that came from the Garden catchment and as aquatic habitats for many species, such as, fishes and dragonflies. Another important function of this aquatic system is that it captures and treats the water that flows within the gardens before the discharge of this water into the reservoir. The treated water is also used in the irrigation of the gardens.

As we can see in this case study, the principle of energy efficiency was used in the whole project  not only because is well seen by the community but most important because this initiation helps the project to reduce the  energy consumption and consequently reduce the amount spend with electricity and the impact for the environment.   

See my video below to see my opinion about this topic!