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Women in Science? Science in Art? >>

Carla Farsi, Artist
Eva Nieminsky, Water Treatment








TREATING WATER FOR DRINKING
Water is source of life. Water and carbon, dark matter of life. Alum. Has there ever been a water treatment plant on Mars?

Part I: A talk with Eva Nieminsky
I contacted Eva Nieminsky of the Utah water treatment facilities, by phone. She told me about carbon and bacteriological water filters sometimes used in the treatment of drinking waters. Carbon can be artistically represented by common coal, and usually bacteria is grown on it. Some filters have the shape of a cylinder. They need to be periodically back-washed to rid of sediments and dirt.

Part II: A visit at the Boulder Betasso Water Treatment Plant
After a phone call, I readily got an appointment with the people at the City of Boulder Betasso Water Treatment Plant on Sugarloaf Road up Boulder Canyon. The drive up the canyon was quite spectacular, as new snow (= frozen water) had recently fallen. A gate blocks the access to the facility, so I had to ring them to be ushered in.

At the plant, after security is cleared, people are really nice and very helpful. So my tour began. At the Betasso plant they treat the water collected from the Boulder water shed up in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Through a system of pipes that uses gravity, a bit like in Roman architecture, the water is then directed to the plant's reservoirs. In this process, the water's tumultuous flow is used to generate electricity; indeed 10% of Boulder' electricity comes from this water!

The water is treated at the plant, and finished water is piped to reservoirs in Boulder. The first process in treatment is coagulation which uses aluminum sulfate or alum (a gooey yellow substance. The next process is filtration then post-disinfection. Betasso uses liquid sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) as its disinfectant (not too much different than household bleach).

The effect of coagulation lowers the waters pH and water becomes corrosive. Hence Corrosion Control is performed to adjust pH. Lime, similar to chalk, is used in this phase.

Filters are periodically cleaned by Back Washing, i.e., The filters get washed from below and the sediments and other particles are washed away, a little like taking a bath versus taking a shower. This phase is represented in my art work by the tub, with floating Alum

I would like to thank, the people at the Betasso Water Treatment Plant and Eva Nieminsky for their invaluable help.