world water forum college grant program l...

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



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


Faculty Co-PI Jon Cicchetti, Landscape Architect CA# 2191

Title Part-Time Lecturer

Department Recreation and Leisure Studies


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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


r Collection System



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)


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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


9

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.

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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



(562) 985-5119

[email protected]

Sepideh

Faraji

Assistant Professor, CSULB

Co-Principal Investigator

ChE Department



(562) 985-7534

[email protected]

Jon

Cicchetti

Part-Time Lecturer, CSULB

Landscape Architect

Co-Principal Investigator

Recreation and Leisure

Studies Department



(562) 989-1880

[email protected]

Kathryn

Harrel

Student Manager 5232 Marietta Ave

Garden Grove, CA, 92845

(714) 321-6602

[email protected]

Melissa

Keys

Special Programs

Coordinator, Long Beach

Water Department

1800 E. Wardlow Rd.

Long Beach, CA, 90807

(562) 570-2309

[email protected]

Terry

Geiling

President/CEO

American Gold Star Manor

3021 N. Gold Star Dr.


(562) 426-7654

[email protected]

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


+8% benefits


+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.

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