Fall 2016

PawneeWaterTreatment
Facility

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TableofContents

TableofContents.....................................................................................................2
ListofTablesandFigures......................................................................................3
1.0 Introduction
1.1PawneeHistory............................................................................................4
1.2OurGoal.......................................................................................................5
1.3Objective.......................................................................................................6
1.4PublicOutreach...........................................................................................6
2.0Background
2.1BlackRiver...................................................................................................7
2.2RegulationsConcerningtheRiver.............................................................7
2.3AnExamplefromIndustry.........................................................................8
2.4PawneePopulationGrowth........................................................................9
2.5WaterTreatmentFacilityLocation.........................................................10
3.0Design
3.1AlumDosage..............................................................................................11
3.2SodaAshandLimeTreatment................................................................12
3.3ChlorineTreatment...................................................................................13
3.4ProcessOverview
3.4.1WaterIntakePipe..........................................................................14
3.4.2PreliminaryTreatment..................................................................14
3.4.3LowLiftPump................................................................................14
3.4.4PreChlorination.............................................................................15
3.4.5Coagulation.....................................................................................15
3.4.6SedimentationBasin.......................................................................15
3.4.7SandFiltration................................................................................15
3.4.8PostChlorination...........................................................................16
3.4.9Fluoridation....................................................................................16
3.4.10StorageandDistribution..............................................................16
4.0Summary
4.1Overview....................................................................................................17
4.2PublicMeeting...........................................................................................17
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References..............................................................................................................18

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ListofTablesandFigures

Table1:PawneePopulation,SearchingforFood..............................................10
Table2:ResultsofAlumDosageExperiment....................................................11
Table3:TableofChemicalConstituents............................................................12
Figure1:MapofPawnee,NY................................................................................4
Figure2:ManKayakingonBlackRiver..............................................................7
Figure3:PawneePopulationGrowthModel........................................................9
Figure4:LocationofFacility...............................................................................10
Figure5:WaterTreatmentFlowChart..............................................................13
Figure6:BarScreen.............................................................................................14
Figure7:Coagulation............................................................................................15
Figure8:SandFiltration......................................................................................16

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1.1 PawneeHistory

1.0 Introduction

In March of 2016, winter storm Bryce hit the northeast.

The eastern shore of Lake Ontario, where Pawnee is situated,
was hit the hardest, as they experienced the worst blizzard
since the Blizzard of 77 that hit Buffalo, NY. Winter storm
Bryce is only the second snow storm to warrant a federal
disaster area declaration, and nearly reached the $300
million in damages caused by the 77 blizzard. The damage
was particularly devastating to Pawnee, due mostly to the
intense flooding that occurred after the snow storm. An
unexpected warm front moved through the state only a few
days after the storm, effectively causing the snow to melt all
at once. Instead of packing up and moving away, the people
of Pawnee have shown extreme dedication to their
hometown, and decided to stay. It is more economically
viable to rebuild the towns infrastructure than completely
redesigning everything. Engineering 720 has stepped in to
take the lead role in rebuilding the infrastructure of Pawnee.
We will use this opportunity as a chance to follow in the
footsteps of cities like Greensburg, KS, and continue as a
leader in the world of sustainable engineering.

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Figure 1: Map of Pawnee, NY

1.2 OurGoal
Engineering 720 was established in 2011, and has
expanded to become one of the leaders in green engineering
principles. The main principles that we focus on are systems
thinking, prevention instead of treatment, and output-pulled
versus input-pushed. The chance to rebuild a whole city is an
exciting but challenging feat, but at Engineering 720, we see
it as an opportunity to make our mark in the world of green
engineering, and to establish a new standard for feasible
sustainability in engineering. We hope to use this remarkable
situation to show the world how sustainable engineering
principles can be applied to the most difficult circumstances.
The Engineering 720 design teams have chosen the
criteria they deem most important to achieving our goals to
outline in this project. The most important criteria in any
situation where the goal is to achieve a high level of
sustainability is systems thinking. Systems thinking is the
ability and practice of examining the whole rather than
focusing on isolated problems. This means that when
deciding how to best solve an issue, you take into account

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the interactions and relationships of a system with its
containing environment.1 This type of thinking is based on
the idea that a component within system is best described
by its affect on the system, rather than viewed in isolation.
Employing systems thinking in the redesign of Pawnees
infrastructure can help to prevent unforeseen consequences
that are almost guaranteed to occur if each project is viewed
in isolation.
Prevention instead of treatment refers to the concept
that it is better to identify and prevent a negative
consequence rather than waiting for negative consequences
to occur and treating them. Take, as a simple example, the
flu shot. If a person gets a flu shot in the fall, they are
helping to prevent contraction of the flu in the winter.
However, if that person was to pass up on the flu shot, their
chances of getting the flu and suffering the consequences
are much higher. Therefore, it is more profitable to identify
and prevent this from ever occurring, instead of waiting for it
to occur and then treating it.2 When dealing with the design
challenges of Pawnee, the goal of Engineering 720 is to
prevent waste as much as possible rather than treating it
after it occurs. This can be done in a variety of ways, but the
simplest and most effective way will be to treat waste as it is
produced, and incorporate it into another cycle. This will
essentially eliminate the waste output into the Black River.
Similarly, at Engineering 720 we believe in designing
systems that are output-pulled rather than input-pushed.
Typically, design and production has been driven by the ease
and cost of production. Abraham Maslow once said in 1966,
To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. 3
When redesigning Pawnees infrastructure, we will identify
the real and immediate needs, as well as predict the needs
of the townsfolk in the future. By doing this, we will allow the
needs to pull the design of the infrastructure. The goal of
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these effort will be to sufficiently provide for the towns
infrastructure needs, yet not to overdesign. This will not only
prove to be more efficient, but will minimize the cost of our
efforts.
1.3 Objective
The purpose of this report is to inform the citizens of
Pawnee, NY, of the design process and design of the water
treatment facility. The reasons for each design aspect will be
defended using graphs and calculations, as long as
explanations for each step.
1.4

PublicOutreach
The name for Engineering 720 was derived from the
idea that were willing to go around the world twice for our
clients. With this in mind, we always seek the input of our
clients. At 12:20 on September 28, we will hold an
informative session on the current design of the water
treatment facility, as well as a Q&A session immediately
following the presentation. Our lead engineer, Clay Cabrera,
will be present to answer any and all questions the pubic
might have.

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2.0 Background

2.1 BlackRiver
Historically, the Black River has been considered an
industrial river. Spanning 114 miles from the lower
Adirondack Mountains to Lake Ontario, this river was used
heavily during the turn-of-the-century. Today, however, it has
been turned into one of the largest recreational rivers in the
northeast, and is a popular spot for paddling, birdwatching,
and fishing.4 This presents another challenge, as we must
account for these recreational activities. In our design, we
have strived to minimize waste entering the river, maintain a
healthy wildlife population, and encourage continuation of

the rivers recreational purposes as much as possible.

Figure 2: Man kayaking on Black Rivera

2.2 RegulationsConcerningtheRiver
The portion of the Black River that flows through
Pawnee is classified as Class A and Class D fresh surface
water.5 According to state law, its best uses in this area are a
source of water supply for drinking, culinary or food
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processing purposes; primary and secondary contact
recreation; and fishing.6 State law 6 CRR-NY 703.3 states
that for Class A surface water, for trout spawning waters (TS)
the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration shall not be less
than 7.0 mg/L from other than natural conditions. For trout
waters (T), the minimum daily average shall not be less than
6.0 mg/L, and at no time shall the concentration be less than
5.0 mg/L. For nontrout waters, the minimum daily average
shall not be less than 5.0 mg/L, and at no time shall the DO
concentration be less than 4.0 mg/ L. The only exception is
that the DO concentration may fall below 4.8 mg/L for a
limited number of days, defined by the formula: DO = 13.0/2.80
+ 1.84e-0.1t. The ultimate standard is 3.0 mg/L. At no time
whatsoever shall the DO fall below this. 7 The standard for
benzene for all water classes in New York is that the level of
benzene should never exceed 1 g/L, on the basis that
benzene is oncogenic, meaning it is known to cause the
development of tumors. Finally, the allowable amount of
arsenic in all drinking water classes is 50 g/L. 8
2.3

AnExamplefromIndustry
An industry discharges 1 m3/s of a waste with a 5-day
carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) of 375
mg/L to the Black River, which has a flow of 4 m 3/s and a
background 5-day CBOD of 2.0 mg/L. We calculated the 5day CBOD of the river after mixing with the waste and
determined the ultimate CBOD of the river after mixing with
the waste, assuming the rate of decay is 0.1/day. We found
the ultimate CBOD of the river to be 76.6 mg/L.
We then used our knowledge of the size of the Black
River to determine how far downstream from the industry we
needed to put the intake of our drinking water treatment
plant to keep your intake water at 5-day CBOD equal to or
less than 50 mg/L. Using the calculations attached in the
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appendix, we determined that the intake should be placed
38.4 km downstream from the industry.

2.4

PawneePopulationGrowth

Figure 3: Pawnee population growth since 2000 and projection to the

year 2026

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Amount
of
Population
Total Volume
Water
117
27,023
3.162 million
gpd/person
gpd
65 gpd/person
27,023
1.756 million
gpd
175
27,023
4.729 million
gpd/person
gpd
117
28,159
3.295 million
gpd/person
gpd
65 gpd/person
28,159
1.83 million
gpd
175
28,159
4.928 million
gpd/person
gpd
In order to follow through with our goal of implementing
an output-pulled system, we must know what the demand is.
For the current population, this is relatively simple, requiring
to know only the current population and the different
amounts of gallons per day that each person uses. To
depend on the outputs to drive the system, we need to know
how much output we will need in the next 10 years. This is
impossible to know for certain, but using excel to create a
graph of the population, we can derive an equation for
population growth: y = 52.419x 78042. Included below is a
table of the current water demands alongside the prediction
of the future output needed. The population is expected to
increase, but not by a very large number. Based on the data
from 2000-2014, the population seems variable, meaning
noticeable fluctuations in a time span even as short as a
year.

Year
2016
2016
2016
2026
2026
2026

Table 1: Pawnees population and the effect of growth on total amount of fuel
needed

2.5

WaterTreatmentFacilityLocation

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Figure 4: Location of Facility

3.1

This location was chosen for several reasons. The first,

and most important, is that it is far enough downstream to
ensure the ultimate CBOD is at an acceptable level for intake
of drinking water. It is on the downstream side of the city
and far enough from Lake Ontario so that should an
emergency happen and waste leaks, it will not have a
disastrous effect on recreation or the lake.
3.0Design
AlumDosage
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused
by large numbers of individual particles that are generally
invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The
measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. In
order to lessen turbidity, alum must be added to the water in
the treatment facility. To determine exactly how much alum

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is needed, we conducted a laboratory experiment using
samples of water taken from the river.
Alum
Dose
(mg/L)
0.5
1.0
3.0
5.0

Alum
Weight
(mg)
0.05
0.1
0.3
0.5

1
Turbidity
(NTU)
83.8
26.7
20.7
15.73

2
Turbidity
(NTU)
79.0
27.0
23.0
17.09

3
Turbidity
(NTU)
71.4
25.2
21.7
17.57

Table 2: Results of the alum test in the lab

The optimal dosage of alum is determined by whichever

dosage produced the lowest average turbidity after three
trials. The averages were, from experiments 1 to 4, [ 78.067
26.3 21.8 16.797 ]. This indicates that the optimal alum
dose is 5 mg/L. Using this dosage, we can use known
formulas (see appendix) to calculate the amount of natural
alkalinity that is consumed in mg/L as CaCO3 and the amount
of alum required annually to treat the drinking water supply
of Pawnee. The amount of natural alkalinity that is consumed
as CaCO3 is 2.53 mg/L. The amount of alum needed to treat
the water for the whole year is 21,842 kg.

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3.2

SodaAshandLimeTreatment
Water with moderate to high hardness and alkalinity
concentrations (150-500 ppm as CaCO3) are often treated
with a combination of lime and soda ash (carbonate ion).
This is known as precipitation softening, because the two
chemicals react with the hardness and natural alkalinity in
the water to form insoluble compounds, which can then
easily be filtrated out or removed through sedimentation. 9 To
find the required amounts of these two chemicals, we had to
build a table of chemical constituents. This can be found
below:

Chemical
Constitue
nts

Concentrat
ion (mg/L)

Equivalen
ts/ mole

Molecula
r Weight
(g/mol)

Equivale
nt
Weight
(g/eqv)

CO2
17.6
1
44.01
44.01
Ca2+
100
2
40.0
20.0
2+
Mg
50
2
24.4
12.2
+
Na
20
1
23.0
23.0
Alk(HC
275
2
100.0
50.0
O3 )
SO42125
2
96.0
48.0
Cl
25
1
35.5
35.5
Table 3: Table of Chemical Constituents

Concentrat
ion
(meqv/L)

Concentra
tion (mg/L
as CaCO3)

0.400
5.000
4.100
0.870
5.500

20
250
205
43.5
275

2.604
0.704

130.2
35.2

To determine the amounts of lime and soda ash, we first

determined the total, carbonate, and noncarbonated
hardness present in the raw water. The total hardness is the
sum of the calcium and magnesium ions as CaCO 3. Calcium
= 250 mg/L as CaCO3, and magnesium = 205 mg/L as
CaCO3, so the total hardness is 455 mg/L as CaCO3. The
carbonate hardness is the sum of the calcium and
magnesium ions associated with bicarbonate ions. Because
the total hardness (455 mg/L as CaCO3) is greater than
bicarbonate alkalinity (275 mg/L as CaCO3), all the
bicarbonate is associated with calcium (250 mg/L CaCO 3)
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and magnesium (25 mg/L CaCO3). The carbonate hardness is
thus equal to to bicarbonate alkalinity as CaCO3. So
carbonate hardness = 250 + 25 = 275 mg/L CaCO3. The
noncarbonated hardness equals the magnesium ions not
associated with carbonate hardness (MgSO4). Thus
noncarbonated hardness = (205 25) = 180 mg/L CaCO3.
Using these values, along with the stoichiometric ratios
given in the formulas (see appendix), we calculated the
amount of Ca(OH)2 required as CaCO3 to make the reach the
required lime total. After calculation, we found that the lime
required is 4096 kg/day, and the amount of soda ash
required is 2687 kg/day (see appendix).
3.3

ChlorineTreatment
Chlorination is the most common form of disinfectant.
The purpose of chlorination when treating water is to kill
pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms that may
cause typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, and/or
gastroenteritis. While no treatment, including disinfecting
with chlorine, will kill 100% of all pathogens, when combined
with filtration, chlorination is an effective way to disinfect
water.10 The necessary chlorine is 675 kg/day.

3.4

ProcessOverview

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Figure 5: Water treatment flow chartb

3.4.1

Intake
Pipe: Water is
taken in as it

flows
down the
Black River. Engineering 720 has developed special screens
to ensure that fish and other wildlife do not get caught in
the intake pipes.
3.4.2 Preliminary Treatment: The purpose of preliminary
treatment is to protect the operation of the facility by
removing any constituents that can clog or damage pumps,
or interfere with other processes down the line. The most
common and the one employed by Engineering 720 is the
bar screen, which is a screen set between 45 and 60
degrees with the vertical. It has small openings that range
from 1-2 inches, allowing only particles to pass that are
small enough. The screen is periodically cleaned so that
particles do not accumulate.11

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Figure 6: Bar screens are used to filter out any particles large enough
to damage treatment operationc

3.4.3 Low Lift Pump: The facility uses 5 pumps to lift the
water above river level. This way, the water can flow
through the operation via gravity.12 This saves both energy
and money that would be spent pumping the water through
the facility

3.4.4 Pre-Chlorination: Chlorine is added to the raw

incoming water, along with liquid aluminum sulfate and
fluoride. The chlorine disinfects and oxidizes organic
material. Aluminum sulfate is added to form a precipitate
that will settle out.
3.4.5 Coagulation: Coagulant is added to the water. This
chemical forms precipitate and traps impurities. This is the
process that was investigated using alum as the coagulant.

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Figure 7: Coagulation diagram, showing how alum works to minimize

turbidityd

3.4.6 Sedimentation Basin: This facility will use 3 large

sedimentation basins. The purpose of these basins is so
that all suspended solids formed in the pre-chlorination and
coagulation phases will settle. After sitting for 3-4 hours,
93% of all impurities will be removed by the processes up
to this point.12
3.4.7 Sand Filtration: It is during this phase that the rest
of the turbidity and bacteria are removed. The water is
pumped into a concrete container with a top layer of
anthracite coal, then over two feet of sand. At the bottom
of each container lies a small perforated pipe for the
collection of the clean water.12

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Figure 8:

Each container has a top layer of anthracite

coal, then a thick layer of sand, with a
collection pipe at the bottome

3.4.8 Post-Chlorination: The water undergoes another

round of chlorine treatment, to kill off the rest of the
pathogens that might remain.
3.4.9 Fluoridation: Fluoride is added to water to help
prevent tooth decay and help to prevent cavities.
3.4.10 Storage and Distribution: Underground storage is
used to help the newly-treated water when it runs its
course through the facility. It is from these underground
wells that the distribution system is supplied. High lift
pumps supply the distribution system, and half of the
facilities high lift pumps are supported by emergency
generators, in case another natural disaster should
compromise the facility. Finally, the treated water is
pumped to above ground storage tanks, where the city is
supplied water via gravity.12

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4.0Summary
4.1

Overview
This report outlines the plan for the design of the new
Drinking Water Treatment Facility for Pawnee, NY. Each step
is described in detail, along with supporting calculations and
diagrams. This report shows where the new facility will be
located, and projects it capacity based off the current
population and population estimates for 10-25 years in the
future. This report outlines various laws concerning different
aspects of drinking water standards, and describes factors
that went into the design of this facility. Among those are
output-pulled instead of input-pushed, prevention instead of
treatment, and most importantly systems thinking. This
report outlines the attempt to set a new standard of
sustainable engineering, beginning with the design of this
drinking water treatment facility.

4.2

PublicMeeting
This facility is designed to benefit the public in the
greatest way possible. Because Engineering 720 cares about
our clients, we will be holding a public presentation of the
new design, along with a Q&A session immediately
afterwards. The meeting will take place in room 316 of
Driftmeir Engineering Building at 12:20 on September 28.

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References
"Systems Thinking." The MITRE Corporation. N.p., n.d. Web. 28
Sept. 2016.
2
Abraham, Martin. "Green Engineering Principle #2 - American
Chemical Society." American Chemical Society. N.p., n.d.
Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
3
Matthews, Michael A. "Green Engineering Principle #5 American Chemical Society." American Chemical Society.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
4
"Home Page." Black River Blueway. N.p., n.d. Web.
5
"Water Pollution Investigation Black River Of The New York
Hydroscience Inc." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency,
n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
6
Class A Fresh Surface Waters, 6 CRR-NY 701.6 (2016). Print.
7
Water Quality Standards for PH, Dissolved Oxygen, Dissolved
Solids, Odor, Color and Turbidity, 6 CRR-NY 703.3 (2016).
Print.
8
Water Quality Standards for Taste-, Color- and Odor-producing,
Toxic and Other Deleterious Substances, 6 CRR-NY 703.5
(2016). Print.
9
"Chapter 7 - Precipitation Softening." Precipitation Softening
Processes | GE Water. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
10
Oram, Brian. "Chlorination of Drinking Water." Water Research
Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
11
"Preliminary Treatment." Preliminary Treatment. N.p., n.d. Web.
28 Sept. 2016.
12
"Treatment Process." City of Evanston. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept.
2016.
1

Figures

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http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53ecbd10e4b0b7e18f4af9a
b/t/53f61d94e4b0279eb9a337fd/1408638376910/Dan+Dani
el+7.jpg?format=1500w
b
http://cof-cof.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Surface-WaterTreatment-Plant.gif
c
http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~coroado/lib/exe/fetch.php?
media=technologies:unit_processes:p2.png
d
http://images.tutorvista.com/cms/images/38/coagulation.png
e
https://www.koshland-sciencemuseum.org/water/assets/400x/00000294.jpg
a

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