The University of Idaho Clean Water Machine Team advanced to the final stage of a $10 million competition challenging groups worldwide to discover methods of preventing algae from growing to dangerously high levels in drinking water.
The team consists of environmental chemist Greg Moller, soil scientist Dan Strawn, mechanical engineer Martin Baker, mechanical engineering student Courtney Wanke, computer engineering student Philip Hagen and biological engineering students McKenzie Walquist and Dylan Kirkpatrick. Others have worked on the team in the past.
“I think (the students) want to make a difference,” Baker said. “They want to challenge their skill sets with practical application and they have an interest in sustainability. All of them are a good match for the project.”
Baker said the students are all in their fourth year of school. Baker himself has been working on the project for about three years, but Baker said Moller has been working on the project for about twenty years.
The Everglades Foundation George Barley Water Prize consists of four stages. The Clean Water Machine Team advanced to the fourth and final stage of the competition this October. The team is competing against teams from the Netherlands WETSUS EU Water Center, a Dutch firm called Greenwater Solution Inc. and the US Geological Survey-Leetown Science Center.
According to Baker, the team’s goal is to find a carbon-negative solution to preventing phosphorus from entering drinking water. He said this would prevent algae from growing into an algae bloom, which can be toxic to the local environment and prevent water from becoming safely consumable. In addition, using a carbon-negative solution would allow water to remain free of phosphorus and algae without adding excess carbon to the environment, Baker said.
Baker said his personal goal is to make a better world through their research.
“Less than 2 percent of the water on this planet is drinkable water,” he said. “Only a small part of that water is clean enough to drink. That’s why it’s important for us to figure out how to clean water.”
According to the Everglades Foundation, which runs the George Barley Water Prize, algae blooms have harmful economic impacts in addition to harmful environmental impacts.
According to the Water Prize website, algae-filled water is not only unsafe for drinking or bathing, it reduces the likelihood people will purchase waterfront real estate or make other water-related purchases, which harms the local economy of areas affected by harmful blooms.
These teams and the Clean Water Machine Team all received $125,000 for completing the third stage of the competition. The team is using money from an M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust grant to fund their research.
More information about the Clean Water Machine can be found at their page on the UI website, while information about the Everglades Foundation George Barley Water Prize can be found at the Everglade Foundation website.