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When you crack open your next beverage from MillerCoors LLC (Chicago), you may not be the only species enjoying the product. Nutrients recovered from the MillerCoors Trenton Brewery in Ohio are being transformed into a protein for animal feed.
Singapore researchers create smart water-quality monitoring technology using robotic swans
 A variant on the old saying, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck — then it must be a duck,” may not hold true on the Pandan Reservoir in Singapore. In this reservoir, “If it looks like a swan and swims like a swan — then it may be a robot.”
Scientists at the National University of Singapore’s Environmental Research Institute (NERI) are conducting research on the reservoir using New Smart Water Assessment Network (NUSwan) technology hidden in autonomously operated, robotic swans that collect real-time water quality data.
 The Los Angeles Reservoir needed some shade, so the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) released 96 million, 102-mm (4-in.), black plastic balls — nicknamed shade balls — into the water.
By blocking sunlight from much of the 70.8-ha (175-ac) reservoir, the shade balls are helping LADWP comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water quality requirements.
The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) is keeping its green-streak going by expanding its recycling program and refreshing the water-saving features of its garden.
WEF has been recycling plastic, metal, paper, cardboard, and glass since 1993. Twice a week, WEF’s recycled waste vendor picks up four 363-L (96-gal) containers filled with recyclable materials. In March, WEF added Keurig Green Mountain’s (Waterbury, Vt.) single-serving coffee cups, K-cups®, to the list of recyclables.
At least to some, wastewater treatment personnel are real-life superheroes. Union Sanitary District (USD; Union City, Calif.) Collection Services employees saved the day for Mehvish Tapal and her family after an heirloom was flushed down the toilet in early October 2014.
USD crews traveled to Tapal’s neighborhood on three different days to search for the heirloom ring. Crews were about to give up the search when they found the ring on Nov. 14, 2014. During the 6 weeks the ring was missing, it had traveled 0.53 km (0.33 mi) away from the house and around several corners in the collection system.
 The 87th annual Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC®) continues to be the largest event of its kind. WEFTEC draws water quality professionals and leaders from around the world. WEFTEC 2015 will take place Sept. 26–30 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Lady Bird, DC Water’s (Washington, D.C.) tunnel boring machine (TBM), has completed a 7.2-km (4.5-mi) tunnel that will be used to help improve water quality in the Anacostia River. In July, Lady Bird completed the dig, and its cutterhead — the elaborate steel face of the machine with built-in cutting and slicing tools — was extracted from a 100-ft (30-m)-deep shaft near DC Water’s Main Pumping Station, according to a DC Water news release. |
September 30, 2015
Monthly Digests