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Evaluation and Implementation Strategy of the Living Machine On-site Wastewater Treatment System
Location: 17
Mentor: Dr. Esber Andiroglu
With growing populations placing increased pressures on water sources and treatment plants, the need for sustainable water and wastewater management is becoming increasingly essential. Widely used methods of on-site wastewater treatment and water reuse are limited in their application and scope. Coming from the family of constructed wetlands, living machines incorporate mechanical components to complement natural, biological processes under the principles of biomimicry and nature-based solutions (NbS). Largely forgotten in current wastewater treatment implementation, the “living machine” treatment system was found to offer promising solutions for sustainable wastewater treatment including reduced cost and energy consumption, reduced chemical usage, and water reuse applications. After a literature review of the current understanding and research efforts regarding living machines, case study analysis was used to identify patterns in implementation. This study discusses future deployment of living machines in the context of a proposed framework for determining the viability of various on-site wastewater treatment systems based on “gates” of foundational knowledge, economic viability, workforce capacity, environmental conditions, governance, and community acceptance. A suitability modeler was established using GIS as a potential conduit for locating optimal conditions for future living machine implementation. Results found that current and historic living machine construction is primarily in the commercial sector but identifies any facility or small development/community geared towards sustainability as ideal candidates for future use, assuming all necessary gates are satisfied. Future research efforts on enhancing the suitability modeler and other recommendations are suggested.
