Student-developed system uses solar power to disinfect household water
A team of 26 Austin Community College (ACC) students was awarded honorable mention for their solar-powered water disinfection system at the National Sustainable Design Expo in Alexandria, Virginia April 11 – 12.
“It’s an incredible honor,” says Kristine Lilly, ACC student and project manager. “We’ve proven that water disinfection can be done on a large scale using nothing but the sun’s energy. When you add up the impact, it has the potential to save the U.S. more than 60 billion gallons of water a year in residential irrigation use.”
ACC students presented their low-cost, energy-efficient, and nontoxic system, which uses ultraviolet solar radiation to disinfect household water known as greywater for reuse in irrigation. The student research was a collaboration between teams in the college’s biotechnology, engineering, environmental science, geology, and physics programs. Participating students came mostly from the National Science Foundation-sponsored S-STEM scholarship program. They spent the past nine months designing and building five prototypes. Biotechnology and Environmental Technology faculty served as advisors.
Among the dozens who competed, ACC was the sole community college awarded the EPA’s 2015 People, Prosperity, and the Planet award. Others receiving honorable mention were Cornell University, Stanford University, and Johns Hopkins University.
Read the full list of 2015 P3 award winners online at epa.gov/p3.
Tags: award, EPA, solar-power, STEM, water disinfection
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By Kenneth strickland May 5, 2015 - 3:30 pm
Wow son, great job to be part of that. Me and your mom are so proud of you.
By Dr Stephens May 7, 2015 - 9:27 pm
Wow- from fishmonger to STEM genius- not bad for a Bamaboy (j/k)
By Dr Stephens May 8, 2015 - 4:45 pm
In other words, well done Kevin.
By Tim Kelly May 8, 2015 - 9:13 pm
Very Nice. Our students going toe to toe with Cornell, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins. Not Bad.
Wait til next year!
By Lynn Haxton May 11, 2015 - 12:56 pm
Great work! Will the plans for the system be available to the public? How can I get one of these systems? We desperately need to use these, given our own water shortages. Please advise, as I am very interested in implementing this for my own household. Thank you.
By Bailey Lathem May 12, 2015 - 4:44 pm
I wish this article had listed our ACC students by name. Although I know one of them (yay Kevin!) I’d like to know the rest as well. They deserve the recognition!
By Carol Hawk May 13, 2015 - 10:03 pm
So proud of the ACC team. Way to make us proud!
By Steve Speir June 5, 2015 - 5:29 pm
It’s a great project and well deserved recognition. Too bad none of the students are identified by name, major or hometown. How do you get additional information about the project?