“According to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report, 783 million people worldwide do not have access to clean and safe drinking water. Pace University’s Design Factory Team, Oceans5, analyzed water related issues in the United States, specifically in the State of New York. Among the water related issues, Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO) poses a significant threat to the health of aquatic, environmental, and human life in the Hudson River region.”,
is how team Oceans5 summarised the theme of their project.
The team wrapped up the problem they set out to solve:
“Precipitation events can overburden sewage treatment plants causing a release of untreated sewage into the Hudson River. Such discharges are also the cause of future problems including emerging pollutants, and the increase of waterborne illnesses.”
What they came up was Stacker. It is a size of small city block three-layer water treatment system that exploits CERN technology of fiber optic sensors and natural ways to treat water. Stacker has two constructed wetlands which both have different capability of purifying water in natural ways. Fiber optic technology is used on the middle layer for monitoring cleanness and nutrition re-mixing the treated water.
The team sums up the environmental impact of their solution in these three points:
- Helps in overflow problem of existing sewer systems when used as support for existing systems
- Increases the quality of marine life
- Reduces waterborne illnesses when the pathogenic micro-organisms are purified from treated water