As part of the Fourth Year Design Project and Capstone 2022, the team “Wastes to Treat Wastes Inc.” from Environmental Engineering received the ESTEN Foundation award by placing 1st in Canada, with an award value of $1,500. The team members are Nafisa Ahmed, Raghda Said, Sharon Thomas, Siyanthi Balakrishnan (from left to right in the team photo) for their project “Wastewater Treatment for an Apartment Building in Mafoluku, Lagos, Nigeria.” The team will be officially receiving their award at an award ceremony on April 6, 2022.
Project Summary: Most of the population living in rural areas of developing countries rely on onsite systems for the treatment of domestic sewage. However, the existing wastewater system of the homeowner’s apartment building in Mafoluku, Nigeria does not provide adequate treatment of wastewater before being released into the ground, resulting in degraded ecosystems and water-borne diseases. Our team addresses this problem by designing a low-cost, de-centralized wastewater treatment system that treats wastewater to the acceptable level and ensures the safe release following treatment.
Faculty Advisor: Nadine Ibrahim
Course Instructors: Monica Emelko and Anh Pham
Collaborators from Capstone Phase I:
- David Olukanni, Ph.D., C.Eng; Professor, Civil Engineering at Covenant University, Nigeria
- Ezechiel Longe, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria
- Remi Idris, PhD Student, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Collaborators from Capstone Phase II:
- Hamid Salsali, Ph.D., P.Eng, University of Waterloo
About the ESTEN Foundation: The ESTEN Foundation mission is to highlight, encourage and give visibility to research initiatives in the field of onsite wastewater treatment as well as community projects focused on raising awareness and protecting water resources. It was created following the initiative of the directors of Enviro Neptune and Enviro-STEP technologies, and promotes applied research and initiatives in the protection of water resources in Canada. More information about the ESTEN Foundation can be found here: https://estenfoundation.org/en/
Award information: The Onsite Wastewater Applied Research Category is for applicants submitting research papers/research summaries related to the Onsite Wastewater Industry. These include development of new technologies, improvement of existing technologies, additional knowledge benefiting the Onsite Industry, etc. Applications were evaluated based on quality, water/wastewater concerns, scientific rigor, benefits and positive impacts, and potential for real life application.