Institutions around the Great Lakes gathered at the 2018 semi-finals in Toronto to present their solutions for the issues facing the Great Lakes. Competing teams were given five minutes to pitch their idea to judges throughout the afternoon at the RBC WaterPark Place.
Five of the 16 teams that competed were selected to move on to the finals in October, including a University of 蓝莓视频 team, WaterPuris, that is tackling the issue of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) in our Great Lakes.
鈥淚 was exposed first-hand to the serious affects that EDC鈥檚 are having on the environment while working with Mark Servos, analyzing rainbow darter fish in the Grand River Watershed,鈥 said Robert Liang, postdoctoral student in 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering and founder of WaterPuris. 鈥淚f EDC鈥檚 could affect the behaviour and fertility of male rainbow darters, this problem could potentially be transferred to humans.鈥
(from left to right) Rachel Tao, Oliver Witham, Robert Liang, Ivana Zurakowsky
Prototype of WaterPuris聽technology
WaterPuris, a team lead by 蓝莓视频 Engineering students, is tackling the problem of the accumulation of EDC鈥檚 in Lake Ontario and surrounding aquatic ecosystems by applying advanced oxidation processes in point-of-entry (laundry, faucets, and toilet) applications.
The accumulation of EDCs is not just limited to Lake Ontario. In 2012, Water Institute member Mark Servos discovered a high population of intersex male rainbow darter fish in the Grand River. These intersex fish were a result of exposure to natural and synthetic hormones in the water, which caused eggs to appear in male testes or tissues.
Endocrine disruption in water systems is a worldwide phenomenon. Estrogen in birth control pills and other chemicals that mimic natural hormones are known to impact fish health in trace amounts as low as one part per trillion, far below what conventional wastewater treatment can typically remove.
WaterPuris is tackling this issue at the source 鈥 your toilet. By breaking down and removing the EDC鈥檚 before they enter wastewater treatment plants, their hope is that their technology will lessen the load for the treatment facilitates, allowing them to run as efficiently as possible.
鈥淭he peroxide that we use, as part of the oxidation process, will react overtime through the sewer system and into the wastewater treatment plant,鈥 said Robert. 鈥淥ur hope is that our technology will reduce the chemical and biological oxidation demand so wastewater treatment plants can work optimally.鈥
2018 AquaHacking semi-finalists:
WaterPuris聽is tackling the problem of the accumulation of EDCs in Lake Ontario and surrounding aquatic ecosystems by applying advanced oxidation processes in point-of-entry (laundry, faucets, and toilet) applications.
ECG Labs is using the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to report on combined sewer overflows in real-time, on a website that the public can access to be aware, informed, and adequately prepared for the impacts.
SWIM presents robust and versatile decentralized sewage overflow detection with their drone-assisted infrared camera.
M Power Software Team is using an internet of things device to detect water overflow and send real-time data to a cloud service to process and analyze. Leveraging the power of AI, they plan to predict the flow before it happens.
E-Nundaation developed a multi-platform application for flood risk management and analysis that will alert subscribers and enable them to assess their own vulnerability.
Learn more about the , and to the finals!