Introduction

•Wetlands are an important part of

the ecosystem, but are decreasing
in number
•With population growth, water
treatment facilities will need to be
expanded
•John Todd created a Living
Machine which combines the
benefits of wetlands and treatment
facilities:
Does not create waste
Aesthetically pleasing
History of Living Machine
•Concept of efficiently cleaning water first thought of by Dr.
Kathe Seidel in 1950
•John Todd and other engineers began to experiment with the
“Living Machine” in the 1970’s and 1980’s
•Initial efforts failed because based on traditional water
treatment that produces a sludge biowaste that had to
frequently be manually cleaned from the system
Designed the Living Machine after years of trial and error
Now there are several companies dedicated to building
Living Machines for businesses, schools, and homes
Living Machines provided an environmentally responsible
choice for water treatment
Project Objectives
•Compare the Living Machine to a natural wetland using
software modeling tool MATLAB
Determine the amount of oxygen and nitrogen in system
to analyze cyclic behavior
Compare model of theoretical wetland to Living
Machine
Compare model of real wetland to Living Machine
Calculate the costs of associated with creating a Living
Machine
•Tests performed
April 21-22, 2009 - 24hour monitoring of level of
dissolved oxygen and temperature
April 29, 2009 - Measurement of the amount of
nitrates/nitrates in each component of the Living Machine
Description of Living Machine
•The Living Machine is composed of four separate ecosystems , or tanks
The first tank is a subsurface constructed wetland.
The main features of this system are:
•Soil in the bottom of the tank for the plants and small organisms
•Variety and abundance of plants, including different types of sedges
and rushes
•Plants supply oxygen that is needed in the nitrification process of
ammonia
Description of Living Machine cont.
•The second tank in the process contains
goldfish
•The main features of this system are:
Goldfish maintaining the
populations of small organisms and
algae
Goldfish produce ammonia as a
waste that is later used by bacteria
Description of Living Machine cont.
•The third element of the Living
Machine is a tank that contains
floating plants
•The main features of this system are:
Reduced levels of BOD
Roots create a place for bacteria
that are essential to the
nitrification process
Aesthetically pleasing
Description of Living Machine cont.
•Last tank in the system before the water returns to its beginning location in the
subsurface constructed wetlands is the anaerobic tank.
•The features of this system includes:
 A variety of small rocks that increase the surface area for the bacteria
Granite, marble and lava rock provide minerals needed by the system
 Bacteria finish the nitrification process by completing the last step in turning
ammonia into nitrogen gas that leaves the system. With the Living Machine
eliminating its own waste and creating its own food sources, it is able to be self
sustaining
Overview of Water Flow
Constructed
Wetlands

Anaerobic Aerobic
Rock Fish

Aerobic
Plant
Photosynthesis
The most important aspect in ensuring a healthy wetland
ecosystem is to establish a steady rate of photosynthesis
Photosynthetic Production and Respiratory
Consumption
•During the day, plants produce
oxygen and at night the oxygen is
consumed by organisms.
•During the day, the air becomes
saturated with oxygen and it will
enter the water by osmosis. At
night, the opposite occurs and
oxygen enters the atmosphere.
•The rise in oxygen is known as
photosynthetic production and
the loss of oxygen is known as
respiratory consumption.
Dissolved Oxygen
•Dissolved Oxygen measurements were taken hourly over a twenty four hour
period
•Data was graphed, and was similar to the rise and fall on the graph for
production and consumption
•This means that the wetland system is stabilizing and behaving like a natural
wetland
Dissolved Oxygen in Fish Tank
6.5

6
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)

5.5

Series1

4.5

4
12:00:00 AM
4:48:00 AM9:36:00 AM2:24:00 PM7:12:00 PM12:00:00 AM
4:48:00 AM
Time
Modeling the System
•The model is based off of theoretical work in a modeling book
called “Modeling for all Scales”
•Coefficient values are either derived from the graph of dissolved
oxygen or assumed based on similar situations
Equations
•There are several assumed values and values obtained by the
slope of the dissolved oxygen curve. The Gross Product is the total
from the Net Product and Consumption.
Initial Values for Model
Ko = 9 F= 0.05 Net Production= 0.192
Q(0)= 10 K5= 0.1 Consumption= 0.091
XS= 6.5 K1=K2 Gross Production= 0.283

X(0)= 6.5 K3=K4 NT= 1.5

•The rest of the values were calculated using the below

equations
Equation Result

N= NT-F*Q 1

R=.7/(1+Ko*N) 0.07

K1=Gross Production/(R*N) 4.04

K4=Consumption/(X*Q) 0.0014
Modeling in Simulink
Results of Living Machines
Results of Simulated Wetland
Conclusion
•The Living Machine behaved as a natural wetland based on
the dissolved oxygen content in the water
•Even though the Living Machine was fairly inexpensive, it
was not made to last a long time. Long term Living Machines
would be more expensive. It is worth investing in if there is a
body of water in a location that cannot be treated by a water
treatment facility.
•From this project I learned a lot about feedback systems, the
flow of fluids, ecological relationships and the strengths of
structures