Lyle team wins first place in state competition

For the third consecutive year, a Civil and Environmental Engineering Senior Design Team at the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering is awarded first place in the Student Design Competition sponsored by the Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT).

Jillianne Matus, Mary Moore, Allison Reinert and Sarah Shepard presented their project, “The Reevaluation of the Biosolids Handling Facilities at the Dos Rios Water Recycling Center,” during the annual Texas Water Conference 2011 in Fort Worth, Texas on April 6th. 

The project provides a comprehensive design for future capacity of biosolids handling operations at the Dos Rios Water Recycling Center in San Antonio. The team is supervised by Professor Fritz Beck.

Biosolids, according to the EPA, are the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of sewage sludge (the name for the solid, semisolid or liquid untreated residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility). When treated and processed, sewage sludge becomes biosolids which can be safely recycled and applied as fertilizer to sustainably improve and maintain productive soils and stimulate plant growth.

The team, representing the State of Texas, will participate in the Student Design Competition at the national level during the 84th Annual Water Environmental Federation Technical Exhibit and Conference (WEFTEC) Student Competition, in Los Angeles on October 15-19.

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