World Water Forum College Grant Program L...
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World Water Forum College Grant Program 2011-2013 Grant Proposals
College California State University, Long Beach
Faculty Dr. Antonella Sciortino
Project #103
An Integrated Water Recycling, Treatment and Efficient Landscape Design System for Water Conservation at the American Gold Star Manor, Long Beach
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH
“An Integrated Water Recycling, Treatment and Efficient Landscape Design
System for Water Conservation at the American Gold Star Manor, Long Beach”
Submitted to:
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
700 North Alameda Street
Los Angeles, CA, 90012
Attention: Ms. Benita Lynn Horn, 10th
Floor-Room 320
Total Amount Requested from MWD: $10,000
Project Strand: LOCAL
Submitted by:
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
Antonella Sciortino, Ph.D. Faculty Project Manager, Principal Investigator
Sepideh Faraji, Ph.D. Faculty Co-Principal Investigator
Jon Cicchetti, Landscape Architect, Faculty Co-Principal Investigator
Kathryn Harrel, Student Project Manager
December 9, 2011
Proposal Title: “An Integrated Water Recycling, Treatment and Efficient Landscape Design
System for Water Conservation at the American Gold Star Manor, Long Beach”
Submitted to: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
700 North Alameda Street
Los Angeles, CA, 90012
Attention: Ms. Benita Lynn Horn, 10th Floor-Room 320
Submitted by: California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
Total Amount Requested from MWD: $10,000
Project Strand: LOCAL
Participants: Antonella Sciortino, Ph.D. Faculty Project Manager, Principal Investigator
Sepideh Faraji, Ph.D. Faculty Co-Principal Investigator
Jon Cicchetti, Landscape Architect CA#2191 Faculty Co-Principal Investigator
Kathryn Harrel, Student Project Manager
Project Summary
In this study, an interdisciplinary team of faculty members and students from the Civil
Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Recreation and Leisure Studies Departments at
California State University, Long Beach will develop an integrated system that combines
efficient landscape design, rainfall and gray water collection and treatment, and a subsurface
drainage system to maximize water conservation. A pilot study of the proposed system will be
conducted at the American Gold Star Manor complex in Long Beach. The study will benefit from
the results of previous projects and will provide a solution to increasing water costs for a senior
low-income housing community.
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Contact information
1.
College California State University, Long Beach
Address 1250 Bellflower Blvd.
City, State, ZIP Code Long Beach, CA 90840
Make Check Payable to CSULB Foundation
2.
Application Strand Check One
Local “An Integrated Water Recycling,
Treatment and Efficient Landscape
Design System for Water Conservation
at the American Gold Star Manor, Long
Beach”
X
Global
3.
Student Project Manager Kathryn Harrel
Undergraduate or Graduate Undergraduate
Department Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering
Management
Cell Phone/E-mail Address (714) 321-6602 [email protected]
4.
Faculty Project Manager, PI Antonella Sciortino, Ph.D.
Title Associate Professor
Department Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering
Management
Telephone/Email Address (562) 985-5119 [email protected]
5.
Faculty Co-PI Sepideh Faraji, Ph.D.
Title Assistant Professor
Department Chemical Engineering
Telephone/Email Address (562) 985-7534 [email protected]
Faculty Co-PI Jon Cicchetti, Landscape Architect CA# 2191
Title Part-Time Lecturer
Department Recreation and Leisure Studies
Telephone/Email Address (562) 989-1880 [email protected]
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Organizational Background
In the following section, in addition to information pertaining to our University, we will
provide a brief description of the nature and mission of our partner institution, the American
Gold Star Manor.
California State University, Long Beach
California State University Long Beach (CSULB) was funded in 1949 as Los Angeles-Orange
County State College. Two decades later, the school was designated a University and was the
second largest in the system. Today, CSULB is one of the largest of the 23 campuses in the
California State University (CSU) system, with a Spring 2010 enrollment of 31,586 students.
CSULB is a highly diverse institution, which has been designated as a Hispanic-Serving
Institution by the U. S. Department of Education in 2007. According to the University 2010 EER
self-study report, the student population includes 5.1 percent African-American, 18.9 percent
Asian/Asian American, 29.9 percent Caucasian, 20.4 percent Mexican American, 0.6 percent
Native American/Alaskan Native, 8.2 percent Other Latino/Hispanic, 6.6 percent Pacific
Islander/Filipino, and 10.3 percent Other Ethnicity. Throughout the years, CSULB has received
considerable recognition for its academic programs and service to students. The University is
committed to being an outstanding teaching-intensive, research-driven university that
emphasizes student engagement, civic participation, and global perspectives as highlighted in
the CSULB’s Mission Statement: “California State University Long Beach is a diverse, student-
centered, globally-engaged public university committed to providing highly-valued
undergraduate and graduate educational opportunities through superior teaching, research,
creative activity and service for the people of California and the world”.
The College of Engineering (CoE) is one of seven colleges at CSULB. Located in an area with
the greatest concentration of high technology industry in the nation, the CoE mission is”to
develop innovators who design and implement practical solutions to meet the ever-changing
societal challenges of today and tomorrow”. The College enjoys a strong liaison with the local
science and engineering communities. Major industries in the area that employ a large number
of CSULB graduates include aerospace, communications, defense, energy, oils and gas,
biotechnology companies and water agencies. The Department of Civil Engineering and
Construction Engineering Management (CECEM), which is the second largest department in the
College, has enjoyed a steady growth in the past few years with increasing enrollment that
exceeded 800 students in Fall 2011 with more than 500 students in the Civil Engineering (CE)
program. The CE program offers both an ABET accredited B.S. degree and an M.S. degree. The
program mission is ”to educate and prepare students to succeed in the civil engineering
profession by providing them with essential technical tools and skills which will enable them to
perform current and future civil engineering tasks and to promote the need for lifelong
learning”. A variety of courses in five specialty areas including structural, geotechnical,
transportation, environmental and water resources engineering, are offered by full-time and
part-time faculty with excellent records of research and professional experience. In 2005 a
team of faculty and students from the CECEM department, led by Dr. Sciortino, received
funding from the Metropolitan Water District for a project entitled “Conservation of Irrigation
Water by Onsite Recycling” that aimed at developing a collection and recycling system of
surplus irrigation water.
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The Chemical Engineering Department (ChE) has grown considerably in the past three years.
Three new faculty members with expertise in energy, biotechnology, material science, and
reaction engineering have been hired. With a strong emphasis on the use of information
technology and state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, the curriculum aims at “preparing
professionals who will be responsible for designing, maintaining, or optimizing manufacturing
processes that convert chemical materials into products of economic utility in an
environmentally responsible manner”.
The College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) enjoys a national and international
reputation for innovation, leadership in community connections, and education of a diverse
student population in the health and human services professions. As part of the College, the
Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies was created in 1965, and has received national
accreditation by the National Recreation and Parks Association/American Association for
Leisure and Recreation Council on Accreditation since 1982. One of the department’s strategic
goals is the commitment to excellence in serving the community through the development of
partnerships with alumni and other community based programs and services.
The three departments involved in the present proposal share a common vision of
preparing competent professionals who, with their technical skills and expertise, will help their
community to deal with increasing societal, economical, and environmental challenges.
American Gold Star Manor (Proposed study site)
The American Gold Star Mothers organization was founded in 1928 by a group of women
who had lost sons and daughters in the service of their country. Eventually the American Gold
Star Home was incorporated as a charitable, non-profit corporation for the purpose of
providing a National Home for the members of American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. The American
Gold Star Home had grown to a size in 1973 where it became necessary to replace the old
buildings so that a new six-million-dollar complex could be built with the assistance of the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development. It was renamed American Gold
Star Manor (AGSM). The complex consists of
nine three-story units, and one two-story unit
for a total of 348 apartments. All the buildings
are located in a secure 23 acre park-like setting
situated in a quiet section of Long Beach. Each
apartment has its own kitchen and there is one
laundry facility for each floor. Due to the aging
of the facility, the management has decided to
undertaking, starting in Spring 2012, a major
renovation of the buildings that includes
remodeling of the interiors, replacing the water
and wastewater pipes, and replacing 8 plus acres of turf with a more water efficient
landscaping. The timing of the renovation makes this site an ideal candidate for the sustainable
design pilot project that we propose. Terry Geiling, the AGSM CEO, is supportive of this project,
which will provide the organization with a water efficient system that will help reduce the
water costs and achieve the organization goals in an environmentally sensitive fashion.
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Project Description
Introduction and Background
The management of water resources has become a topic of great interest for policymakers
and the greater public. There are concerns that global water supplies will be inadequate
because of growing demand by an increasing population. Furthermore potential changes in
climate may modify the frequency and intensity of precipitation and runoff flow rates in many
regions of the world [1]. California, for example, has recently experienced a period of drought
that prompted many local water agencies to implement drastic strategies for water
conservation. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR), in collaboration with many
water agencies across the state, has recently developed the “20 by 2020 Plan” designed to
achieve a reduction of 20% in the urban water per capita demand by the year 2020. Efficient
use of agricultural water, desalination, more efficient urban water usage, and recycling of
municipal water are among the strategies envisioned by the DWR to manage the water
shortage [1]. In addition to developing programs to educate the public on water resources
issues, several local water agencies in California have encouraged customers to implement
voluntary water conservation plans, while others have adopted mandatory restrictions on the
water usage by city residents and businesses [2].
The most common water conservation strategies include landscape modifications by
replacing lawns with drought resistant native plants, water recycling, and storm water capture.
Water recycling has been considered a viable mean to improve water resources supply [3]. The
DWR points out that by decreasing the need for imported water, water recycling may
contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions [1]. Water recycling can be
implemented at both municipal scale and local or building scale. At the municipal scale, the
effluent from water treatment plants is used for irrigation of non-edible crops or landscape or it
may be used for groundwater recharge. At the scale of a single building or residential complex,
water recycling is primarily focused on recycling of gray water.
The State of California defines gray water as untreated wastewater that has not come in
contact with toilet waste. Gray water includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers, sinks,
clothes washing machines and laundry tubs. Because gray water has a low content of organics
such as nitrogen, phosphorous and pathogens, it has been considered suitable for landscape
irrigation and constructed wetlands [4, 5]. Several commercial systems have been designed for
the purpose of collecting household gray water and reuse it for lawn irrigation [6]. However,
hazardous compounds, resulting from cleaning products and wearing of the pipe material, have
been detected in gray water effluents. This implies that discharging gray water without proper
treatment may pose a threat to the quality of soils and subsurface water.
Membrane technology has been used to remove non-biodegradable organic materials (like
personal care products and detergents). The membranes are water permeable polymers that
easily separate water from organic materials. The development of composite polyamide
membranes for gray water treatment has been investigated in the literature in recent years [7,
8]. According to these investigations, composite polyamide membrane is a promising method
for gray water treatment applications [7, 8]. However, regular cleaning of membranes is one of
the drawbacks of the membrane technology [7]. Photocatalytic oxidation of pollutants in gray
water using titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst has also been introduced as a new treatment
technology [4, 9, 10]. Titanium dioxide is cheap and nontoxic while it possesses a good
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mechanical and chemical stability in the presence of chemicals.
Another area that has received a great deal of interest is the efficient capturing of
rainwater. In many urban developments, rainfall is simply collected by storm water systems and
discharged into nearby bodies of water (ocean, lakes, or rivers), sometimes without any
treatment. As part of “Green Building” solutions, several systems have been proposed to collect
rainwater from rooftops and gutters into small reservoirs for irrigation, cleaning, and building
maintenance purposes.
Description of the Proposed System
In this study we propose the development of a water conservation prototype. The project
will improve current technology for water recycling and treatment and aims at building an
integrated system that combines efficient landscape and site design with a rainfall and gray
water collection and treatment system for use in landscape irrigation coupled with a subsurface
drainage system to capture and recycle the irrigation surplus water. A schematic of the
proposed recycling system is depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Schematic of proposed system
A sustainability-based landscape and site design plan will be prepared and will form the
basis for the development of two water collection systems. The first system will collect gray
water from a residential building and it will convey it to a filtration and treatment unit. The
second system will collect rooftop and runoff water, which will be conveyed to a separate
filtration unit. The outflow from the two systems will be collected in a storage tank and it will
be used to irrigate the newly landscaped area. In order to maximize the use of water, the
landscaped area will be equipped with an underground collection system consisting of a set of
Gray Water
Collection
Rooftop/Rainwater
Collection
Filtration and Treatment
Irrigation
Irrigation Surplus Collection
Storage Unit
Water efficient Landscape
and Site Design
Filtration
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trenches and buried slotted pipes that will collect the surplus irrigation water and will convey it
to the same filtration unit employed for the rooftop and storm water.
The pilot project will be a small scale effort implemented at the American Gold Star Manor
housing complex. The complex
consists of residential buildings,
maintenance and common areas, and
several landscaped recreational areas
as shown in Figure 2. The site has
many of the typical landscape
situations, associated with an older,
existing project, making it rich with
opportunity to assess a broader
spectrum of constraints and
solutions.
The prototype of the proposed
system will be built in the location
shown in Figure 2. This involves the
first floor of a residential building
Figure 2: Plan of complex with study area highlighted (highlighted in dark blue) and a
large portion of the quad area
currently landscaped with trees and grass (shown in light blue). It will also have a storm drain
connection to the project loop road for overflow during a flood condition.
At the moment, the complex utilizes potable water from the Long Beach Water Department
for its residential and landscape irrigation needs. From an analysis conducted by the
management of the complex, it was estimated that the 2006-10 average water use at the site
amounted to about 24,208,272 gallons/yr, of which approximately 10,151,856 gallons/yr were
used for irrigation only. The goal of our project is to provide a system that will maximize water
conservation, and hence reduce water costs, for this local senior low-income housing
community. The study will benefit from the results of previous projects and current research
conducted at CSULB. The results obtained from the pilot study will be employed to estimate the
feasibility of extending the proposed system to the entire residential complex or to other
projects at the municipal or regional level and to evaluate the required modifications for site-
specific applications.
The three main components of the proposed system – 1) water conserving landscape and
site design, 2) water harvesting and treatment of rooftop and ground surface storm water and
gray water collection and treatment unit, 3) underground surplus irrigation water collection -
are described in detail in the following sections.
Water Conserving Landscape Design
Our methodology begins with documentation of existing site conditions, including test
borings and soil sampling to measure the soil permeability in the Civil Engineering Fluid
Mechanics laboratory at CSULB. Relevant soil properties will be measured according to the
ASTM [11] standard procedures. The results from the soil tests will be used to maximize the
efficiency of the landscape design by selecting the most appropriate plants for the soil
conditions that will replace the existing lawn and to improve the design of the underground
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surplus irrigation water collection system described in the next section. In addition, numerical
simulations of water infiltration in the soil will be performed using the HYDRUS 2-D model [12]
based upon the measured soil properties.
Site data will be analyzed and then summarized in the form of an opportunities-and-
constraints diagram which is the basis for the preparation of a Sustainable Systems Concept
(SSC). The SSC will guide the remaining steps of the plan preparation process. Drought resistant
native plants - various local cobble, gravel and decomposed granite – and mulch around mature
trees and their surface roots will be the major components of the new landscape design, which
will be implemented on the selected land parcel.
Rooftop, Runoff, and Gray Water Collection and Treatment System
Rooftop water will be collected from one building while runoff will be collected through a
system of storm drains built under the pavement of the walkways bordering the study area.
Rooftop and storm water will be first conveyed to a filtration system to remove suspended solid
particles. We anticipate that chemical treatment will not be necessary as the expected
concentration of hazardous chemical compounds present in the storm water collected at this
site should be below the plant tolerance limit. We will employ current filter technology to build
an efficient filter for this stage of the project. To evaluate the efficiency of the filtration process,
a sample filter identical to the one we plan to use in the field will be first built in the Fluid
Mechanics laboratory at CSULB and tested using the rooftop and runoff water collected at the
site. The following measurements will be performed: (1) filtration rate, (2) influent and effluent
turbidity, and (3) volume of removed suspended particles. The filtration rate will be determined
by measuring the volume of water filtered and the time of operation. The solid particles
removal rate will be estimated by measuring the turbidity and the total dissolved solids found
in the effluent water.
Gray water from bathrooms and laundry rooms in the residential building will be collected
through a system of pipelines that will be built for this purpose on the first floor of one of the
residential units bordering the landscaped area. Gray water will be filtered and conveyed to the
chemical treatment system. In order to select the most efficient treatment process, a series of
laboratory experiments will first be conducted in the Chemical Engineering laboratory at CSULB
using gray water collected at the site. We will build two systems, one based on membrane
technology and one on nano-scale titanium dioxide, to determine the most efficient separation
technique. One of the Co-PIs, Dr. Faraji, has expertise in metal oxide catalysts for environmental
applications and membrane separation technology. The quality of the effluent from the
treatment unit will be analyzed by measuring the drop in Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the samples. The alkalinity of samples will be tested by a
pH meter, while the effects of impurities present in the recycled water on the membrane
material will be studied by comparing the results of this study with that of pure water.
Separation efficiency on nano-sized titanium dioxide (TiO2) will be investigated and compared
with that of regular TiO2. The presence of hazardous compounds will be detected by a Gas
Chromatography analysis.
Both effluents from the filtration and the gray water treatment units will be stored in an
underground tank. If needed, the recycled water may be augmented with potable water during
dry periods of the year when the rainfall is reduced, and the vegetation water demand and the
evaporation rates are higher. The overflow from the tank will be diverted to the storm drain
system. Water from the underground tank will be pumped to the sprinklers system and used to
irrigate the landscaped area.
Surplus Irrigation Water Collection System
This part of the study deals with the improvement of an existing design that a team of
graduate and undergraduate students led by Dr. Sciortino has developed at CSULB. The project,
sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of
feasibility of an on-site recycling system that collects infiltration water from irrigation
conveys it back to the irrigation distribution network. Two systems were
prototypes were built in the Fluid Mechanics
suited for lower permeability soils where water infiltrates slowly; the second system
pertinent to more permeable soils where water infiltrates rapidly.
A schematic of the two systems is s
for both soils are shown in Figures 4(a) and
(a) Figure 3. Surplus Irrigation System Collector. (a) low permeability soils, (b) high permeability soils
a)
Figure 4. a) Laboratory prototypes for the a) high permeability soil, and b) low permeability soil
system. Water from the underground tank will be pumped to the sprinklers system and used to
r Collection System
This part of the study deals with the improvement of an existing design that a team of
graduate and undergraduate students led by Dr. Sciortino has developed at CSULB. The project,
sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in 2005, investigated the
site recycling system that collects infiltration water from irrigation
conveys it back to the irrigation distribution network. Two systems were
Fluid Mechanics laboratory at CSULB. The first system was best
suited for lower permeability soils where water infiltrates slowly; the second system
pertinent to more permeable soils where water infiltrates rapidly.
A schematic of the two systems is shown in Figures 3(a) and (b). The laboratory prototypes
shown in Figures 4(a) and (b).
(b) Figure 3. Surplus Irrigation System Collector. (a) low permeability soils, (b) high permeability soils
b)
Figure 4. a) Laboratory prototypes for the a) high permeability soil, and b) low permeability soil
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system. Water from the underground tank will be pumped to the sprinklers system and used to
This part of the study deals with the improvement of an existing design that a team of
graduate and undergraduate students led by Dr. Sciortino has developed at CSULB. The project,
Southern California in 2005, investigated the
site recycling system that collects infiltration water from irrigation and
conveys it back to the irrigation distribution network. Two systems were designed and
. The first system was best
suited for lower permeability soils where water infiltrates slowly; the second system was
aboratory prototypes
Figure 3. Surplus Irrigation System Collector. (a) low permeability soils, (b) high permeability soils
Figure 4. a) Laboratory prototypes for the a) high permeability soil, and b) low permeability soil
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For low permeability soils a trench collector system was developed. This system is a network of
drains, which consist of trenches filled with highly permeable materials, evenly distributed
across the site. Water is conveyed to trench drains either from the surface or through lateral
subsurface infiltration. Collection of surface runoff is facilitated by sloping the ground surface
toward the trench drains. Slotted pipes at the bottom of the trenches collected water and
conveyed it to a storage reservoir. For high permeability soils, a blanket drain system was
proposed. In this type of soil water infiltrates rapidly and the blanket drain would serve as an
interceptor for the infiltrated water. The system consists of a blanket drain located at a certain
depth below the root zone. Water is conveyed vertically to the blanket drain from percolation
through the soil, collected by slotted pipes and conveyed back to the storage reservoir. The
blanket drain is a continuous layer of compacted gravel, enveloped in geofabric to prevent
migration of fine material, and built underground to guarantee complete aerial coverage and
maximize the collection yield.
Laboratory studies and numerical simulations showed promising results in terms of water
recovery for the two proposed systems. For the high permeability soil we were able to recover
about 85% of the inflow water within the first 20 minutes, while for the low permeability soil
the rate of recovery was obviously lower, about 35% of the inflow water was collected during
the first 40 minutes from the start of the experiment. These results were obtained from small-
scale closed systems where surface runoff, evaporation, and root uptake were practically non-
existent. As no field investigation was conducted in the 2005 study, we were not able to
estimate the field efficiency of the two systems. A field model, such as the one we propose to
build in the present study will give us the opportunity to implement the necessary design
modifications to improve the efficiency. Furthermore, we will optimize the design by
conducting a series of laboratory tests and computer simulations to determine the optimal size,
number, depth, and spacing of the drainage pipes to maximize the volume of the irrigation
water collected. Depending on the soil properties, the appropriate design will be implemented
in the field. We will measure the amount of water provided for irrigation and the amount
collected by the underground system and estimate the water savings.
Finally, the operational and maintenance costs of the proposed integrated system will be
estimated. The main effort of this project is to minimize the cost of the materials to make our
model a feasible and inexpensive tool for water conservation.
Anticipated Outcomes
The anticipated outcomes of this research are both short term and long term. The
immediate outcome of the project will be a system that will help reduce water consumption for
a low-income housing community. Because of the gray water collection and treatment units,
the proposed system will also reduce the amount of wastewater and pollutants that would
otherwise be collected by the local sewer systems. We will provide an estimate of the efficiency
of the proposed integrated system in terms of potable water savings and reduction of
wastewater. We will measure the amount of potable water saved for irrigation using the on-site
prototype and will extrapolate the water savings for the entire complex using data on current
water usage per residential unit, irrigation water needs, extension of landscaped and built
areas, and cost of potable water. The wastewater savings will be quantified by estimating the
amount of gray water produced by each residential unit, which will be diverted and utilized by
the proposed system. An estimate of the cost of implementing and maintaining the proposed
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system for the entire complex will complete the analysis. Information obtained on the
performance of the filtration, treatment and underground collection units, will be used for
further research on design of efficient water conservation systems.
In the long term, the project will stand as an example of a simple and sustainable system for
water conservation that could be extended to other locations at the municipal or regional level,
reduce the irrigation use of high quality potable water and therefore increase drinking water
availability for local municipalities, and reduce pollution of natural water bodies. For this
purpose we will identify potential applications beyond the scale of the proposed project and
provide the necessary design guidelines for site-specific applications. Furthermore we will also
explore applications to agricultural fields, small residential areas, and resort communities in
developing and developed regions of the world.
Finally, the present study will give the opportunity to students at CSULB to acquire hands-on
field experience and to the three faculty members to develop lecture material and outreach
activities to make an even larger student audience familiar with water conservation strategies.
Project Projection Benefits
The following are the major benefits resulting from the proposed project.
1. Water conservation: the goal is to reduce the amount of potable water that is currently
purchased and employed for irrigation. The potable water savings are the result of the
reduction in water usage due to water efficient landscape design and the reduction due to
replacement of potable water with water from rainfall and gray water recycling and from
underground irrigation collection. The estimated total amount of potable water conserved will
be between 33 to 40% of current water usage for irrigation. Considering that the 2006-10
average landscape water use was about 10,151,856 gallons/yr, the proposed system will
provide a water saving ranging between about 3,500,000 and 4,000,000 gallons/yr. The impact
of this strategy is local as it decreases the potable water bill for the housing community where
the prototype will be built, but it has global implications as the proposed project could be
applicable to other communities in California, in the United States, and around the world.
2. Reduction of Water Treatment Costs: Because of the collection and treatment of gray water,
less wastewater will be diverted into the local sewer system, contributing to an additional
reduction of water related expenses for the American Gold Star Manor. The reduction of
wastewater due to gray water recycling is estimated to be about 15-20% of the average
wastewater produced by the community. Although the impact of this factor is local, a global
factor can also be envisioned as this strategy could be easily employed around the world.
3. Improvement of the environment and sustainability benefits for people: By utilizing native
water resistant plants and recycling gray water and rainfall, the proposed system will promote a
sustainable landscaped environment and contribute to improve the quality of life for the
people living at the American Gold Star Manor complex. Money saved by reducing water-
related expenses will be available for improved services and programs for the senior
community. The total saving in water-related expenses, after the cost of maintaining the
proposed system is deducted, is expected to be about $13,000/yr, which is about 15% of the
amount that the community currently pays for potable water and wastewater disposal.
Furthermore, the community will be eligible for additional savings through the water rebates
that the Long Beach Water Department offers to consumers who implement water
conservation strategies.
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Faculty and Student Expertise
The proposed project will be carried out by a team of students and three faculty members
at CSULB. The Faculty Project Manager, Dr. Antonella Sciortino is an Associate Professor in the
Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management. Her area of
expertise is Hydraulics and Water Resources with a focus on modeling water flow and
contaminant transport in the subsurface, inverse modeling for parameter estimation, and
groundwater remediation techniques. Dr. Sciortino teaches courses in Fluid Mechanics,
Hydraulics, Hydraulic Design, and Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport. She is the
author and co-author of several journal publications in her area of expertise and the recipient
of research grants including the project funded by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California in 2005 entitled “Conservation of Irrigation Water by Onsite Recycling” described in
the previous section. During her tenure at CSULB, Dr. Sciortino has advised numerous graduate
and undergraduate student projects and Master thesis in the area of Water Resources. Dr.
Sciortino will be responsible for supervising the development and testing of the rainfall
collection and filtering system, and of the surplus irrigation water collection system.
Dr. Sepideh Faraji’s expertise is reaction engineering and metal catalysts for environmental
applications. She is interested in using engineering and catalytic science in chemical reactions to
reduce environmental pollution, especially water pollution. Currently, two undergraduate
students are working on grey water treatment in her lab. Dr. Faraji will be responsible for
supervising the development and testing of the gray water treatment process.
Jon Cicchetti, who will supervise the landscape design, is a landscape architect and a part-
time faculty in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. He is also the owner of JDC,
Landscape Architects and Planners a landscape architecture company that is highly focused on
sustainable design and water conservation landscaping. Current and past project in which JDC
has been involved include:
- Assisting the City of signal Hill with implementation of the new state water ordinance
AB1881.
- Promontory Point Housing Development Water audit (28.6 Ac), Signal Hill
- Cal State L.A. housing Renovation Master Plan (2.2 Ac)
- 3rd Street Master Plan; Bioswale, protected bike lane, tree well filtering device; Long Beach
- Demonstration garden at the City Yard in Signal Hill: Water conserving tree and shrub
planting alternatives. Water retention/infiltration basin.
- Demonstration garden at Reservoir Park in Signal Hill: Permeable paving, infiltration basin,
bioswale and lawn substitutes
Kathryn Harrel is a senior undergraduate student who will graduate in Spring 2013. She is a
very active member of Chi Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honor Society, and ASCE. Her
specialty area is water resource engineering. Kathryn is an outstanding student who is very
interested in learning beyond the class material and becoming more and more involved in the
CSULB’s civil engineering community. Her time management skills have allowed her to manage
work and a full time school schedule and maintaining a GPA of 3.8. Kathryn was selected as the
Student Manager for this project because she is a competent, reliable, and hard working person
with a very pleasant personality, great leadership skills, and the ability to interact well with
everybody. Kathryn will be the leader of a team of undergraduate students who will perform
the design and the experimental work described in the previous sections.
12
Timeline
If funded, we expect to complete the project according to the following schedule:
Summer 2012 Agreement Executed. Funds disbursed to colleges.
Summer 2012-Fall 2012
(July 2012-December
2012)
Conduct tests on laboratory scale prototypes of treatment and
surplus irrigation water collection systems. Design and implement
landscape, gray water, rooftop and rainfall collection systems,
and underground irrigation water collection system on site
Winter 2013-Spring 2013
(January-April 2013)
Collect laboratory and field data, perform simulations and cost
analysis. MWD staff visit to colleges (TBD).
May-June 2013 Write and complete technical report. Conduct a “Dry Run”
presentation of project to the CE 101 (Introduction to Civil
Engineering and Construction Engineering Management) students
at CSULB. Submit report to MWD.
Spring 2013 (TBD) MWD Expo featuring student projects, presentations and
prototypes.
Project Management Team
NAME TITLE/ORGANIZATION ADDRESS PHONE & EMAIL
Antonella
Sciortino
Associate Professor, CSULB
Faculty Project Manager
Principal Investigator
CECEM Department
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
(562) 985-5119
Sepideh
Faraji
Assistant Professor, CSULB
Co-Principal Investigator
ChE Department
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
(562) 985-7534
Jon
Cicchetti
Part-Time Lecturer, CSULB
Landscape Architect
Co-Principal Investigator
Recreation and Leisure
Studies Department
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
(562) 989-1880
Kathryn
Harrel
Student Manager 5232 Marietta Ave
Garden Grove, CA, 92845
(714) 321-6602
Melissa
Keys
Special Programs
Coordinator, Long Beach
Water Department
1800 E. Wardlow Rd.
Long Beach, CA, 90807
(562) 570-2309
Terry
Geiling
President/CEO
American Gold Star Manor
3021 N. Gold Star Dr.
Long Beach, CA 90810
(562) 426-7654
13
Budget
MWD and Matching Funds
DESCRIPTION AMOUNT NOTES
Grant Funds Requested
from MWD
$10,000 Funds to perform laboratory studies at CSULB.
America Gold Star Manor $47,000 Funds to pay for building the proposed
prototype on site
Project Total $ 57,000
Note: Dr. Sciortino, Dr. Faraji and Mr. Cicchetti will volunteer their time to supervise the
landscape and system design, the laboratory experiments and the building of the prototype at
the American Gold Star Manor site.
MWD Budget Breakdown
LINE ITEM AMOUNT NOTES
Stipend $1026.00 Undergraduate student. 4 hr/wk for 25 weeks at $9.50/hr
+8% benefits
Stipend $1026.00 Undergraduate student. 4 hr/wk for 25 weeks at $9.50/hr
+8% benefits
Stipend $1026.00 Undergraduate student. 4 hr/wk for 25 weeks at $9.50/hr
+8% benefits
Laboratory Supply $5700.00 Purchase of supply for laboratory experiments.
Chemicals: $3200 Hydraulics/Landscaping: $2500
Office Supplies $313.00 Purchase of printing paper, color cartridges, photographic
material and other supply for drafting, report and
presentation/poster preparation
Overhead Fees $909.00 Calculated at 10% as per RPF
MWD Project Total $10,000
14
References
[1] California Department of Water Resources, 2010. California Drought Contingency Plan 11-
18-2010.
[2] www.calwatercrisis.org
[3] Hersch, P. 2001. 2001. Water Reuse: Reclaiming a Finite Resource. Environ. Prot. 12(7), 29p.
[4] M. Sanchez, M.J. Rivero, and I. Ortiz, "Photocatalytic oxidation of grey water over titanium
dioxide suspensions,"Desalination, vol. 262, pp. 141-146, 2010.
[5] H. Al-Hamaiedeh and M. Bino, "Effect of treated grey water reuse in irrigation on soil and
plants,"Desalination, vol. 256, pp. 115-119, 2010.
[6] Aqua2Reuse: www.livinggreendesignsolutions.com
[7] F. Hourlier, A. Masse, P. Jaouen, A. Lakel, C.Gerente, C. Faur, and P. Le Cloriec, "Membrane
process treatment for greywater recycling: investigations on direct tubular nanofiltration"
Water Science and Technology, vol. 62.7, pp. 1544-1550, 2010.
[8] G. Ramona, M. Green, R. Semiat, and C. Dosoretz, "Low strength graywater characterization
and treatment by direct membrane filtration,"Desalination, vol. 170, pp. 241-250, 2004.
[9] U. Gaya and A.H Abdullah, "Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of organic
contaminants over titanium dioxide: A review of fundamentals, progress and problems"
J. of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry reviews, vol. 9, pp. 1-12, 2008.
[10] Ludwig, C., H.E. Byrne, J.M. Stokke, P.A. Chadik, and D.W. Mazyck. 2011. Performance of
Silica-Titania Carbon Composites for Photocatalytic Degradation of Gray Water. ASCE
Journal of Environmental Engineering, 137(1): 38-45.
[11] ASTM International, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 04.08, D 4318-05, ASTM
International, 2007.
[12] Simunek, J., M. Sejna, and M.Th. van Genuchten. 2007. The HYDRUS-2D software package
for simulating the two-and-three-dimensional movement of water, heat, and multiple
solutes in variably-saturated porous media. Version 1. IGWMC, Colorado School of Mines,
Golden, CO.