Project Narrative
Our design project focused on addressing the rising concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Great Lake. The following nutrients contribute to harmful algal blooms, ecosystem imbalance, and long-term water issues. The objective of our project was to develop a sustainable, scalable, and environmentally responsible solution for improving nutrient cycling in Lake Erie.
What We Did
We developed a water filtration system using biochar that successfully filters out excess nitrogen and phosphorus from Lake Erie's freshwater. This system was aimed to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations while minimizing environmental disruption, safety concern, and produce safe-to-drink freshwater for nearby residents.
How We Did It
Our design followed the engineering design process from initial brainstorming to prototype development. Early iterations involved low-fidelity sketches of multiple types of nutrient treatments. We explored introducing ecological plant life, drones with bio capsule's, and automated machines that clean up waste.
Through testing criteria such as environmental safety, cost, scalability, carbon footprint, and community acceptance, we carefully designed our final product. Iterations included adding filters to avoid unwanted bodies floating into the system, creating sensors to detect high amounts of nutrients, and
Why We Did It
To be put simply, The Great Lakes have been experiencing a reoccurring problem with excess Nitrogen and Phosphorus being cycled into the lakes due to agriculture, and wastewater treatment. This harms the lakes ecosystem and needed a solution to reduce this process to ensure a safe and environmentally safe ecosystem. We chose this issue because it is a serious problem and needs the attention it deserves for the local Indigenous population, and surrounding residents.
My Specific Contribution
I was the weekly minute-taker for the entire design project and completed various tasks like stakeholder analysis, WDM matrix creation, prototype generation, risk assessment and table creation, filming and editing the entire final video along with many other tasks.
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