Visit to Franklin Wastewater Treatment Plant

Gunnar Solberg
AP Environmental Science
Alan McIntyre

Franklin Wastewater Treatment Plant

On Thursday, December 6, 2012 we traveled as a class to the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Plant. The treatment plant, located in Franklin, New Hampshire, is located beside the Winnipesaukee River and cleans the water that runs in the river to keep the river safe from human waste. We have been learning in class about the effects of humans on freshwater and how we deal with it. The Wastewater Treatment Plant is extremely helpful in keeping the rivers clean and free of human wastes.

Alan explained how pumping stations all throughout New Hampshire move sewage and waste to the treatment plant, keeping the waste out of the river, where the waste is removed and the water is put back into the river.

Nashua River before Water Treatment Plants and after

Ken Noyes was our tour guide around the plant. He explained all the workings of the plant and how it keeps chemicals and waste from entering the river. We started by learning about the effects of humans on rivers before there was any cleaning going on. The Nashua River was a great example of how awful people treated the river. A textile company would dump their waste into the Nashua River leaving it whatever color they used that day. After Wastewater Treatment Plants the river was always clean and was rid of most pollutants.

In order to ensure that everything at the plant is running smoothly there is a computer program that constantly runs. This computer program known as the SCADA system monitors water levels, pH, and other things in the water as well as alerts the workers when something goes wrong or is going to go wrong. This system of having computers is extremely helpful to the workers at the plant because it reduces the time they have to be out checking the pumps and making sure nothing has gone wrong. "The plant receives about 6 million gallons a day, it is designed to handle 11.5 million gallons a day" said Artie. In the spring when the snow on the mountains melt the plant does receive its maximum capacity very often.

Primary Treatment

Primary Clarifier water very brown

According to Ken Noyes, "Primary treatment removes 30-75% of waste in the water." Water waste includes, suspendable solids, floating solids, and dissolvable solids. The primary clarifiers remove floating and suspendable solids in the water, as well as greases and other things that may be present. This is a main step in cleaning the water because the removal of these solids prevents eutrophication. Eutrophication is bad because it increases turbidity, lowering the amount of sunlight and oxygen at lower depths. Eutrophication kills many species because they cannot survive with lower oxygen and sunlight levels. This area is very important because it removes much of the substances that cause eutrophication. The way this area works is there is  an extremely large metal fan that sweeps the bottom of this million gallon basin. All the solids that have floated down are pushed by this fan into a hole in the center of the basin, removing the solids from the water. At the top of the basin there is another fan-like piece of equipment that travels along the surface of the water. This removes the greases that sit on top of the water.

Secondary Treatment

Secondary Treatment

 Secondary Treatment is when the water travels to smaller basins and is cleaned using microorganisms. This process is called "Activated Sludge."  The water is moved to a smaller basin where microorganisms are put in it to eat the remaining waste in the water. Ecoli is a main organism used to clean the dissolved solids from the water. The process of using these organisms is very helpful because they get rid of all the things you cannot see in the water or feel in the water. The dissolved solids pose a large problem but with the help of these microorganisms they are cleaned up very quickly.  The bubbles you see in the picture is oxygen being pumped into the water where the organisms are. This keeps them alive and thriving so they can eat as much as possible.  The problem posed by having microorganisms in the water is that there cannot be to few, because then they would not get rid of as much dissolved waste as they should, and there cannot be too many, this would cause eutrophication. This problem is know as the "Mass to Food Ratio." The workers know how many microorganisms are needed to clean certain levels of waste in the water, so they use this Mass to Food Ratio to determine if there are too many organisms or not enough. Keeping a stable ratio keeps the water as clean as possible and the microorganisms satisfied.

Secondary Clarifier

Secondary Clarifier

The Secondary clarifier is the same thing as the primary clarifier, the difference is that the secondary comes after the secondary treatment. This process pumps 3000-3300 gallons per minute. The secondary clarifier is an insurance that all of the harmful solids are out of the water. Notice how clean the water already looks compared to past photographs. This process uses the same fan at the bottom of the basin to collect solids and the skimmer on top to remove greases. The water in it all comes from the secondary treatment where it was cleaned with micro organisms. These organisms are still present in the water making it unsafe to drink or interact with. The water is much cleaner when it comes to dissolvable, suspendable, and floating solids. These are not the problem anymore. The amount of microorganisms in the water is very high and if released back into the environment they would pose a large problem to the ecosystem. This makes it necessary for the water to go through one last stage before re-entering the river.


Disinfection

The disinfection process is extremely important. When the water passes through the final stage of clarifying it is free of 95% of solids but is riddled with microorganisms. To fix this problem the water runs through a shaft that has UV lights which kill microorganisms in .03 seconds of exposure making it the most efficient way of getting rid of them. This process ensures that the harmful organisms do not go into the waterway and hurt the surrounding environment. At times these aeration tanks will have too much water running through them, this leads to the excess water being moved through an alternate pipe to a basin where the water is disinfected using chlorine tablets. This process is less efficient and is only used when there is too much water for the UV aeration area to handle.

Solid Disposal
After the solids are taken from the primary and secondary clarifiers, they are transported to a tank roughly 29 feet deep. In this tank there are "acid farmers." These microorganisms eat the solid waste and reduce solids by 55-70%. The remaining water is moved to a centrifuge where the remaining solids are separated and taken away.

Lab Analysis
Inside there is a lab that runs tests on the water that leaves the plant. In the lab they test for things that were in the water when it came to the plant, as well as things it may have left with that was introduced by the plant. The main tests run are for Ecoli, Chlorine, and pH. Other tests are also run but these three things are the main parts of the water the plant is worried about.

Conclusion
This trip was extremely fun, although it smelled awful at the plant. It was cold but the material was interesting and the tour guides engaging. I was especially surprised by the thought of everything that goes down a drain ends up at one of these plants. That means that every shower, flush, brushed teeth, dishes, and much more all travel to get cleaned at a place like this. The amount of water that goes through each day is insane. It really puts into perspective my water usage on a daily basis. I am now extremely aware of how I use water throughout the day.

Chemistry of a Forest

      To learn about the chemistry of a forest we watched a movie. This movie was called "Chemistry of a Forest" which is pretty self explanatory. It was night when we went to watch the movie and a cold one at that. Room 25 in Shirley Hall was where the viewing took place. As well as the short lab and the food afterwords.  The night of Tuesday, November 6th will not be forgotten, for much learning took place that night.

       The movie took place at Hubbard Brook National Park, which is the site of many chemical tests on the soils and many watersheds. The movie spoke about how there were watersheds all along the hills in the park. This made it easy for scientists to set up their experiments and test the chemicals that were in the water and being transferred around the area. The main experiment that was talked about involved the deforestation of the area surrounding the watershed. After deforestation herbicides were used and they highly increased the nitrate levels in the water and soil. This showed that use of herbicides is harmful and should not be condoned in woodland areas.

        They talked about the loss of Calcium in the dirt, stating that "It is possible that the calcium retreated into the trees because they needed it to grow," further testing would be needed to confirm that theory.  If the nitrates keep rising and calcium levels keep depleting the health of the soil will go down very much because calcium is vital to healthy soil and nitrates, when in too much abundance, can be harmful. The scientists tested magnesium levels as well, this being very important to plant growth. The levels of these minerals in the soil can be disturbed by both natural changes and human interaction. The tough part is knowing how much changes naturally and how much is human interaction.
The air tester was really cool because not only was it directly hooked up to a computer to find data it also was connected to wind mills and humidity testers. This created an experiment that took into account many variables that could change the levels daily and make sure the data was as exact as possible.  The air tester had a module that tested minerals in the air, a module that tested changes in minerals in the air, and windmills and humidity detectors to test the effect of winds and water vapor on the mineral levels.
      After the movie we did an experiment testing soils.  This involved feeling the soils and using our senses to try to find which soils fit descriptions and how water effected that feeling.  We tested one dirt sample that felt very grimy at first but when wet became very soft and gooey. Another was rough and almost solid when it was dry but when we wet it it fell apart and was rough but not blocky, it was sandy almost.

      I had the misfortune, and stupidity, of showing up late and missing the original screening of the film. I was lucky because Alan let me take the video in order to watch it on my own time. It was interesting and short which made it easy to remember specifics. What really stood out to me about the movie was the wide range of materials used to test levels of minerals in water, soil, and even dry minerals in the air. The deep thorough testing that goes on using countless machines and tests makes the watersheds very accurate and very reliable. The testing went on in air, land, and water helping the scientists truly understand what is making the difference and how humans are affecting it. Overall I was very interested and the food was delicious. Very enjoyable.

Pond Water Lab

  The purpose of the Pond Water Lab is to figure out if the new turf fields at Proctor are affecting the pond.  In order to find out the affect of the turf we needed to test the pond for changes in diversity and pH.  In order to rule out the changes being caused by weather or outside factors not including the turf we tested the temperature of the air and water. If the turf is affecting the pond in any way it could have extreme consequences due to the interconnected nature of the pond. If the rubber beads from the turf change the chemical make-up of the pond it could end up being devastating because the change could cause a domino effect and eventually disrupt the majority of organisms in the pond.  If there is a change in diversity in the pond then the surrounding ecosystem could also change drastically. In the case that we find drastic changes in the pond we will compare what we find to past years and determine if the turf could have caused the pond to change.

The supplies we used were as follows:

• 1 magnified box to examine life forms
• 1 bin to collect the water and materials
• 2 nets used to gather the plants and animals in the water
• 1 pH tester
• 1 thermometer
• 1 turbitity tester
• 1 nitrogen test
• 1 phospherous test
• 1 dissolved oxygen tester
• 1 kayak
• 1 micro organism test
• 1 bug diversity book to identify organisms
• 1 spoon to pull organisms out of large bin and place in magnifying box
• 1 eyedropper to pick up smaller organisms

The method we used to collect our data was simple:

1. We gathered our materials
2. Observed the pond’s surrounding to see if it was cold, rainy or even windy.
3. We checked the temperature and pH of the water using the pH tester.
4. After that we collected water in the bin.
5. We used a net to stir up the sediments, plants, and animals and collect them from the pond.
6. We placed what we picked up in the net into the bin
7. We removed and recorded all the debris and plants from the bin and put back in the pond
8. We identified the organisms we found in the bin using the magnifying box to view them and the diversity book to identify them. These included not only insects but also minnows and tadpoles.
9. After recording everything we saw in the bin we placed it all back in the pond.
10. To finish we tested the turbidity, nitrogen, and phosphate levels of the site.

Observations: The Proctor pond is a central sight on the Proctor Academy campus.  All the rainfall on campus drains down into the pond and then out the pond through the single outflow sight. Our site was the inflow and outflow closest to Shirley hall and had aquatic grass and lily pads all over it. The ponds pH was always the same, staying level at 7, and this indicated that the turf was not affecting the pH. It had rained the day before almost every data collection period. The water looked dirtier on days after it had rained but it did not affect the pH.  One day there was an oily film over the water, but that did not appear to affect what life we found at our site for that day nor did it change the pH. There was a high diversity in the pond, we found many organisms from mayfly nymphs to minnows and tadpoles.The tadpoles and minnows seemed to only come out later in the day, since that was the only time we caught any. The insects seemed to be in abundance no matter what time of day it was or what the weather was like the day before. Overall, there was high diversity in the life that was found at our site. This diversity shows that the pond is still flourishing and can uphold life.

  Data:

SITE 5 (Outflow)
pH	7
N	0
P	1
Turbidity	20
Sediment type	Detritus and Silt
Tadpole	7
Hellgrammite	1
Adult Riffle Beetle	1
Mayfly Nymph	2
Bloodworm	1
Moss Spider	1
Damselfly Nymph	2
Water Boatman	1
Water Penny	2
Minnow	2
Sowbug	3
Dragonfly Nymph	2
Copepod	15
Scud	1

Analysis:

  The data we collected was very helpful in discovering wether it had been affected by the turf fields or not. Surprisingly our class did not find drastic changes in the ponds diversity. One would expect a turf field to take away some of the nutrients that were being delivered to the pond in the past but we found nothing of the sort.  Using the "Simpson's Diversity Index" we calculated that the ponds current diversity was .989, making it the most diverse out of the past 4 times the site has been tested. In 2007 the diversity was .948, 2008 was .934, 2010 was .914, and now it has risen to .989.  The steadiness of the ponds diversity indicates that the turf fields have had no affect on the pond.  Strangely enough the loss of the grass and the implementation of synthetics has not decreased diversity in any way.  I had originally expected the pond to be greatly affected by the turf but it was not. In fact diversity increased.  Whether the increase had anything to do with the turf we do not know for sure.  

Conclusion: 

When observing the pond originally I noticed that there did not seem to have too much diversity other than plants.  I viewed lily pads, reeds, and grass as well as tree leaves that had fallen into the pond.  Before starting testing there was no sign of advanced life besides the sight of tadpoles on days before testing began.  Originally I did not think there was much the turf fields could affect. After data collection i was astounded at the amount of diversity in the pond that could be changed by changes to the chemical balance of the pond.  Luckily after comparing our data to past experiments there did not seem to be any immediate change in diversity.

I found this lab very enjoyable.  The fact that the experiment took place in our very own pond made it very applicable to every day observations.  Looking at the pond I will now know things about it that I never would have thought of in the past making this lab extremely interesting. It is good to know that I am learning things in class that affect the way I view my every day environment and life.  I never would have guessed that there were so many factors in the environment of the pond. Going into the lab I thought that we might find a couple bugs and tadpoles in the water, I was very surprised to see that so much diversity goes into the pond to keep it running smoothly.  The environment did not seem to have many factors for things besides plant life but after further research I was genuinely amazed at the diversity of the pond.

Blackwater River Shed and Pleasant Lake

Friday September 21, 2012
E block AP Environmental Science
Today our class, taught by the stupendous Alan McIntyre, took a short field trip to the Blackwater River Shed and Pleasant lake.  While at the lake Alan discussed the differences between abiotic and biotic life forms, the cycle of energy and life, evolution in these niches, and diversity in a niche.

The abiotic, or non-living, aspects of the environment are the foundation for life.  The rocks, soil, sediment, sand, and water generate and store nutrients and chemicals necessary for life.  "If it weren't for the abiotic things that carry nutrients and chemicals it would not be possible for the water to flow and life would not be possible" said McIntyre.  These abiotic systems are the foundation for life on our planet.

Biotic, or living, things in the environment are natural responses to the abiotic system.  These living things we observed on our trip are perfect examples of how life formed on our planet.  The glacier melted, the water runs down the river collecting nutrients from the abiotic things in the area, organisms feed and live on these nutrients, other things feed and grow using the original organisms as nutrition, etc. These organisms live not only off the abiotic nutrients but also off of each other.

The water cycle is necessary for life because it filters and moves water through the air and ground.  Every part of the water cycle is dependent on eachother. The river would not flow if there was no rain coming from the mountains, there would be no condensation if the water did not evaporate from the lake and river, and there would be no rain if the evaporated water did not condensate in the air.  The water cycle moves nutrients from the hills down through to the river giving life to everything around it.

Diversity of nutrients and chemicals makes life possible in different ways.  Different nutrients benefit life in different ways, life in the lake is different from in the river because there is 1 part phosphorus per million in the lake and 1.5 ppm of phosphorus in the river.  The amount of phosphorous gives different benefits to different organisms making these areas very diverse.

Energy is transferred through the movement of water picking up nutrients and fueling plants etc.  If the water did not flow through the river there would not be a movement of energy and therefore not any life.  The sun gives off energy as well, making heat is a main source of life on the planet.

Evolution has created the ecosystem we see today.  Things thrive off of the river and lake and grow and evolve to be at the peak of being able to survive in the conditions they are in.  If not for the evolution of organisms the ecosystem would have stopped growing and changing and supporting more life and different life forms.

Pleasant Lake

Pleasant Lake is the largest source of water in the area and it flows down into the Blackwater River and to the River Shed.  "This lake was formed 12,000 years ago when a 500 foot glacier sat over this whole area." said Alan McIntyre. After that glacier melted the water collected in the area and moss and lichen grew on rocks next to the lake as well as the river that was flowing from the lake. The melting of the glacier created a "system because it is constantly taking water from the highlands and moving to low land" which prevents from algae build up and moves water to places where other organisms can thrive.  "when it rains the water rolls down the mountains and collects in the watershed or lake."  The water moving through the soil, sand, and rocks in the mountains transports vital chemicals and minerals for life in the lake and river.  Nitrogen and phosphorus are two of the main sources for life that are in these waters.

Blackwater River

Blackwater River watershed in Andover, New Hampshire is a flourishing Deciduous forest with the Blackwater River running through it. This river was created by runoff from mountains and from Pleasant Lake that collected at the lowest point and flows down from the hills.  The rocks, sediment, sand, and dirt create an environment rich in nutrients for plants to grow and animals to live in.  The moving water prevents algae from over covering the top of the water, which ensures sunlight to get to the ground under it making it possible for fish and other organisms to live.  The Blackwater River is the engine that runs the environment around it.

River water Ph color

Lake water Ph color

On this trip the air temperature was 52 degrees Fahrenheit. The water at the Blackwater River Shed was 57.2 degrees Farenheit. The water in Pleasant Lake was 65 degrees Farenheit. The water in the lake was warmer than the water in the river because it is standing water which can absorb and store more solar radiation (heat energy). The moving water in the river is constantly ducking away from sunlight and not taking in heat.  The lake also had a higher acidic value as demonstrated by the Ph value of 6.5-7 than its counterpart 6-6.5 range of the river water.  In both cases they were extremely close to the non-acidic range and both the lake and river are considered class C water masses (best for swimming, boating, etc.).

Alan is the bomb diggity