Duckweed: Natural Alternative to Glue

Author: Robert Bair

Hello People,

It has been a very long and laborious week. Bright and early Monday morning I started the first portion of the absorption experiment. I set up 27 bottles containing either tap water (as a control) or a highly diluted solution of zinc and duckweed. Measuring out an exact amount of duckweed was quite a challenge. It was during this part of the experiment that I learned a very valuable lesson; duckweed sticks to everything. It sticks to glassware, stirring rods, pipettes, fingers, and my lab notebook. It also likes to sneak into places it shouldn't go. I found a piece of duckweed stuck to my backpack, which I had left outside of the lab. I still don't know how it got there.

Once in the bottles, the duckweed was left to absorb the metals for 30 hours. After the 30 hours I started on the “desorption” part of the experiment. This part of the experiment is done to see how much of the metal is simply absorbed (a process which is reversible by simple pH change) and how much is actually uptaken by the plant (not reversible). It was during this part of the experiment that I wished I had eight or more arms. I had to take the plants from each bottle and place them into three different solutions: EDTA, CaCl2 and HCl. For each different solution I needed to put them in for three different times. I found myself at a loss for limbs… Octopuses would make excellent research assistants…

Once the desorption experiment was concluded I had to desiccate the plant samples. While these where in the oven, I was free to start the metal sampling. It was the first time I really used the AAS flame and the TOC. The AAS flame is a really fun piece of equipment to use. It doesn’t have an auto sampler, so you have to manually insert each sample. I enjoyed watching the flame change hues with each new sample.

The experiment isn’t over with. I still have to plot my results and I still need to digest my plant samples in a microwave (I wish this piece of equipment had a more interesting name). I have run out of “influent” to refresh my plants. I will have to go to a wastewater treatment plant with a bucket sometime later this week. I’ll have more info on this as time goes on.

The experiments usually take all day long. I haven’t had too much time to do anything else. I have started making myself a tent. As you might be able to tell by now, I spend most of my spare time building things. I’ll have pics of the tent once I am done.

Netherlands Water Partnership

Author: Robert Bair

What a week! The whole group has been kept busy with meeting after meeting. So much information has been dumped on me that it might take me the whole weekend to reflect on it.

As far as my research goes, all of the details have been set in place. My mentors are now Dr. Diederik Rousseau and Dr. Roel Meulepas. I will be working on zinc and lead uptake and absorption by Lemna gibba (duckweed). I find this research to be particularly relevant for wastewater treatment in developing countries as it is a low-energy and low-cost treatment solution. The removal of zinc is useful for treating the effluent of tanneries, which in many developing countries goes back into the environment untreated. Once I am done with the equipment training, I should be ready to start the experiments.

Until the experiments start I have plenty to think about. This week has been very full of interesting meetings and field trips (most of which have been described in the previous blog entries). Yesterday we went and visited the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) in Den Haag. The NWP is an consortium of different NGOs, Private businesses and Governmental Programs that all deal with water and sanitation. Their primary focus is to consolidate the information and expertise of their members and distribute that information to countries abroad. In this way, many of the technological advances that the Netherlands have made in the water sector are made available to even the poorest of countries. When looking at the Millennium development goals, the NWP seems like a incarnation of Goal 8, Target 5 (Which is to build global partnerships which make new technology available to developing countries).

While at the water house a representative from AKVO gave us a short presentation. AKVO is an NGO that uses some of the newest advances in technology to connect donors in developed countries to agencies working in developing countries on water and sanitation projects. On their website (AKVO.org) a donor can find a brief description of the various projects that need funding. Immediately the donor can channel money to the project via paypal. Once a project is funded, the program implementers can record their progress on cell phone cameras and post it online. In this way the donor can measure progress and really feel connected to the project. This set up is particularly beneficial for small and medium sized organizations that often find it very hard to find international donors.

I am always happy to hear how advances in technology are changing the way NGOs work. Technology is definitely making it easier to maintain transparency within an organization. I don’t think this model is flawless, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

IHE- Expectations

Author: Robert Bair

Good-Bye Tampa! I have spent the last few days tying up loose ends and making sure that I am at least partially ready for this trip. I am a little nervous due to the fact that I am not sure what is expected of me in the lab. I have spent the last few weeks in Dr. Yeh’s lab learning as many lab techniques as possible. I hope that is enough of a background to start with.

As far as language preparation goes, the crash course didn't stay in my brain for long. The only thing I remember is “Hoi” and “Doei.” I started using another language program, which has been teaching me particularly useless phrases like “de jongen onder de bal” (which translates to “the boy is under the ball”).

Although I do not know what is expected of me, I do have expectations regarding this trip. First of all, I hope to increase my understanding of anaerobic processes. A thorough understanding of these processes will be useful for creating appropriate sanitation technology for developing countries. Secondly, I am very excited about the possibility of meeting the people from UNESCO-IHE who have extensive experience working with water and sanitation issues. I am particularly interested in talking to IHE students and learning from them how they are solving water issues in their respective countries. Lastly, I hope to learn as much about the Dutch culture, language and history as possible. I haven’t done sufficient pre-trip studying on any of these. What better way to learn than to travel?

It is time to sleep, so Doei!