Water and energy sustainable technology centre (West)
Pepper, I.L.1 and Snyder, S.A.1
1University of Arizona, USA
(free)
Abstract
WEST is a new Center at the University of Arizona which opened in the spring of 2016. The $10m facility is the result of a public/private partnership between the University of Arizona and Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department. Multiple unique features make WEST uniquely positioned for state-of-the-art research and technology evaluation with respect to wastewater treatment, and water and biosolids reuse. For example, WEST is co-located with a newly commissioned wastewater treatment plant (Agua Nueva) allowing for direct access to sewage, effluent and biosolids throughout the treatment train. Current studies related to wastewater include: i) evaluation of microbial indicators for process control of wastewater treatment including phage and other viruses; ii) evaluation of the survival of human pathogenic viruses during anaerobic digestion; iii) high throughput sequencing for process control of wastewater treatment; iv) new technologies for reduced energy consumption during sewage treatment including removal of high concentrations of ammonia from effluent using anammox technology; and v) advanced treatment of reclaimed water.
Keywords
High Throughput Sequencing for Process Control of Wastewater Treatment; Novel Technologies for Wastewater Treatment; Pathogens Removal from Sewage; WEST Center
Introduction
The WEST Center is a new facility that is focused on water and wastewater treatment, and monitoring technologies, and resource recovery. WEST is co-located with the new Pima County Water and Energy Sustainability Campus, which includes a full-scale advanced wastewater treatment and water reclamation facility, recycled water production by Tucson Water using engineered recharge basins and constructed wetlands. WEST is unique in its ability to conduct the translational research necessary to advance the sustainable water and energy technologies of the future.
