Education » Graduate » EOH 2006: Exhibit Summary


George Tang and Tias Paul demonstrating the Point of Use water purification system developed for Engineering Open House.

Technology to the Rescue: Providing Clean Water in a Disaster Area

Events following Hurricane Katrina showed us that residents of disaster areas cannot always rely on the government to provide immediate relief when the scale of the disaster is large. The media provided us with endless images and stories about people stranded on rooftops, surrounded by floodwaters, waiting for helicopters to deliver supplies like clean drinking water. The human requirement for clean water and the difficulties associated with transporting drinking water to people in disaster areas has motivated the need for a small water treatment device that can turn contaminated floodwater into safe drinking water. The National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center WaterCAMPWS (Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems) is pleased to demonstrate a point-of-use water treatment system that could provide safe water for victims of natural disasters. This hybrid water treatment system will rely on cutting-edge water treatment technologies to completely remove any contaminants that might be present in floodwaters. These contaminants include disease-causing microorganisms, heavy metals such as lead, and organics such as fuels and pesticides. The demonstration will provide information about these contaminants and show how they can be removed from water using a system that is no bigger than your hand. Demonstrations will be held at the beginning of each hour, and students will be available at all times to explain the engineering concepts being applied.

The WaterCAMPWS Team won first place in The Real World Engineering Competition at the 2006 Engineering Open House for this Exhibit.


Martin Page demonstrating the Point of Use water purification system developed for Engineering Open House.

2006 Team Members

Repeat in 2007!

WaterCAMPWS graduate students again won first place in the Real World Engineering Competition at the 2007 Engineering Open House. Their display informed visitors about water reuse and research being done by WaterCAMPWS researchers. Team members included: