Chemical Organization at UNESCO-IHE

I really like UNESCO-IHE's system of organization for the storage of chemicals in the lab, and I'd like to copy it for use in our USF labs. In the photo above, you can see that the chemicals are stored on labeled shelves adjacent to a poster board. The chemicals are stored for the most part in alphabetical order. Each chemical has been given a designated spot on a shelf and a shelf number. The shelf number can be found both on the container, the designated spot, and the poster.

The photo above shows the first column of the poster. You can see the shelf number, the name of chemical, the chemical formula, references in the lab manual, and safety information.

Delft's Oude Kerk and Niewe Kerk in Pictures

 Vermeer's grave in the Oude Kerk

View of Oude Kerk from Niewe Kerk Tower

 

View of Center Square from Niewe Kerk Tower

Caryssa

View of Delft from Niewe Kerk Tower

Interior of Niewe Kerk

Postcards from Brugge, Belgium

Zand Square Fountain

Breakfast in Brugge. My first belgian waffle in Belgium!

 Mari

Dated building in beautiful historic Brugge.

 Church of Our Lady in the background.

Rooftop view from Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan (Half Moon Brewery).

 Me (Kristen) on the roof.

 Belfry Tower.

Most of the sidewalks and roads are made of stones like this.



De Hoge Veluwe National Park

I am not sure if there is any better way to enjoy a Sunday in the Netherlands then going to De Hoge Veluwe National Park.

Grab yourself a white bicycle (free for visitors of the park) and ride parts or all of the 23 km bike trail.We ended up riding the whole trail, and below are some of the things we saw.

Anton on his white bicycle.

Jean Deuffet's Jardin d'email (1974) located in the sculpture garden at the Kroller-Muller Museum, which can be found right in the middle of the park. The museum houses many contemporary art pieces.

Anton and Kristen climbing fallen trees in the sand dunes just off of the bike trail. 

Scheveningen

Last weekend, I biked from Delft to the coast. I went to a Scheveningen, which is located just outside of Den Haag. It was an unusual perfect day (clear skies and highs in the 80s), and I couldn't think of any better way to take advantage of the beautiful weather.

There are a half a dozen ways to bike there, but I definitely recommend taking Delfweg, since the road lies adjacent to a beautiful and rather large canal. The ride was super easy, and I just followed the signs to Den Haag and Scheveningen. Even after being in The Netherlands for a month now, I am still amazed how safe and easy it is to get around on a bike, and I am really looking forward to more bike trips.

Maeslantkering in Pictures

Kinderdijk in Pictures

Our regular workday at IHE (celebrate the 50th blog)

Mari: here I'm setting up my "homemade" hollow fiber membranes for a coagulation/filtration experiment. The hardest part is trying to get all of the air bubbles out before filtration or else my pressure readings will be off!! First I flush my membranes with milli-q water, then artificial seawater, and finally seawater with iron for coagulation experiments.

Caryssa: This morning I coorindated with Leah about case study visits over the next couple weeks, and spent the rest of the day working on creating a framework for shelter design and implementation  (Sorry, no fancy experiements to see... but interesting site visit pictures in the coming weeks).  The site visits should help bring a tangible aspect to the framework and provide examples of existing best practices.  I'm especially looking forward to visiting the floating homes at Maasbommel!

Suzie: With this project I actually feel like an engineer.  I'm still trying to get the system set up and after a day of playing with a pump and trying to split the flow equally with little success I decided to seek help.  Frank had a great idea to buy a rectangular flower planter and use that as a constant flow source for a drip feed.  I'll add more pictures as I get further building the system.

Kristen: Here I am helping Raffaella and Denys with some batch experiments. We are looking at the role pH plays on metal-sulfide precipitation. The pH values being tested are 3, 5, and 7.

Anh: I was taking samples, playing around with the AnMBR and praying the sludge won't get over my body again :D. Actually the AnMBR system is running very smoothly right now. The system is being operated under start up conditions and will be fully operated after a week from now (as expected).

Anton: I am concerned that the pH meter is actually trying to give me hard time, so I am putting it through its paces. My experiments are running very well, and I am anxious to process my recently attained data for my first batch experiment. It seems as though I have made a small discovery, and I am excited to document it!

-the 2011 team-