Grantee Research Project Results

We are utilizing the P-3 project as an educational tool in several natural science courses as well as in business and honors courses with students conducting significant original research. We have expanded the USF Greening of Campus website (www.stfrancis.edu/green) to include all phases of the P-3 project. Senior students on the project will present findings at Senior Symposiums. Student project leaders will provide presentations at the Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area annual conference; the annual Greening of Campus Conference in Muncie, IN, in 2009, and at the Midwest Business Administration Association in spring 2009 on the relationship of environmental stewardship, economic growth, and increased infrastructure.

The main goals of the proposed project are to serve the students of the University and local residents (people) through good environmental practices, to further establish a “Green Campus” (planet), and to meet the challenges for water conservation posed by the rapid economic growth of the Will County community (prosperity). USF has initiated the program to reduce the amount of water runoff into the municipal storm drain systems that flow into our local rivers and streams, and to collect and reuse the runoff throughout campus.

 

Permeable pavement allows rainwater to percolate through the paving and into the ground before it runs off. Depending on the design, paving material, soil type, and rainfall, permeable paving can allow as much as 70% to 80% of the annual rainfall to infiltrate. The paving system will thus reduce the amount of rainfall introduced into the city drainage systems, affecting not only the University but also the Joliet community (planet). The remaining storm water that is collected and held underneath the paved areas can provide a potential source of water that will reduce the load on the municipal water supply and infrastructures (prosperity). Once a determination is made as to whether or not the water is sufficiently clean, USF plans to install a collection system of drainpipes and a small holding tank for water samples that can be tested for contaminants in order to assess the quality of the water and reuse it for beautification purposes (people).

Continual balancing of economic growth, environmental awareness and commitment will ensure a continued quality of life for generations to come. Water conservation of the type of the type proposed will significantly reduce the burden on municipal storm drains and water supply systems, lessen the local demand and dependency on the aquifer, and diminish the need for retention ponds. As part of a comprehensive effort for USF to become more environmentally friendly, it will reduce the load that the campus places on municipal water supply and drainage systems while, at the same time, enable hot weather irrigation and landscape beautification. Our long-term plan will directly serve our neighborhood and the greater Will County community (people). It will address local environmental issues of water conservation (planet), and find environmentally responsible ways to meet commercial needs (prosperity).

Design and construction of the parking lot is currently underway by outside contractors with input from our group. Unfortunately, due to budgetary delays (on the part of both the EPA and USF) as well as the extreme winter weather conditions in our area, the project is about three months behind schedule. Nevertheless, our project team has been able to collect a reasonable amount of chemical data on rainwater and snowfall from strategically placed collection units located in parking lot B on campus.

 

We are analyzing water quality for typical runoff contaminants (Table 1). These include but are not limited to various ions and metals shown in the table of sample contaminants. The testing methods include titration, chromatography, mass spectrometry, spectrophotometry, electrochemical, gravimetric tests to find the level of contamination in the water.

According to the National Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center, raw snowfall was recorded for the Joliet, Illinois area for each individual day of the month. Between January 11, 2009 and January 31, 2009, about 24 inches of raw snow data was recorded. During the same period, about 0.59 inches of raw precipitation was also recorded. Precipitation for the month of February has not yet been calculated and rates will be retrieved from the National Weather Service at the end of the month.

 

According to the data table, it is evident that for the majority of the contaminants, the levels were within normal limits as indicated by the EPA. Lead, zinc, iron, cyanide, and sulfate, when compared to the acceptable levels, were shown to have levels that were lower than the acceptable ranges. All other contaminants measured from the various parking lots were shown to be within the acceptable range, therefore making the sample acceptable to EPA standards. The standard snow and rain samples for phosphorous (0.33 mg/L) have higher levels than acceptable. The sample collected from parking lot B on Feb 9, 2009 (snowmelt) also had high levels of phosphorous (1.06 mg/L). The standard sample for snow also showed high levels of nitrate (24.8 mg/L) which was higher than the acceptable level of 10 mg/L. Samples collected form parking lot B on Feb 9, 2009 (rainwater) show nitrate levels of 19.8 mg/L, clearly higher than the acceptable level of 10 mg/L.

 

Most of the data collected (Table 2) fell within normal limits. Surprisingly, the conductivity levels for melted snow were much higher (70.4 μS/cm) than the acceptable levels (0-20 μS/cm), which can indicate an increase in the amount of inorganic materials such as phosphorous in the water for that particular day (12). In fact, the levels of phosphorous for the same sample were indeed higher (0.33 mg/L) than the acceptable levels (0.1 mg/L). Increased levels in conductivity can impact the environment in such a way that it may affect the amount of species in a given area. In addition, increased levels of phosphorous can result in erosion, sewage discharge, urban runoff, and rural runoff (12). Nitrates levels were also found to be in excess in two out of the four samples – snowfall and parking lot B – both measured 24.8 and 19.8 mg/L respectively compared to the acceptable levels of 10 mg/L. These high levels can cause an increase in algae growth, which can reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in water ultimately killing fish and other aquatics (8). USF can speculate that the increase in nitrates may be due to the industrial pollutants and runoff from cars. Predictably, chloride levels are below standards, <29 mg/L for raw snow and rain while snow and rain from parking lots’ runoff exceeded the standard levels by almost 3 fold at >641 mg/L due to increased use of salt de-icers.

 

Clearly, once the pavers are installed, a new set of data will be collected and analyzed. The data will include samples from summer months as well as snowmelt form winter with comparative data between Geo-melt mix and salt de-icers. We anticipate that the comparison of the pavers to the regular lots during the summer months will decrease the amount of runoff into the municipal system as well as provide a clear replenishment into the aquifer. The use of the Geo-melt mix during the winter months can increase the longevity of the pavers and introduce a green method of de-icing. USF anticipates an overall systemic reduction of its impact on the environment by continuing its promise to green as well as to sustain our environment.

 

In Phase I, we were interested primarily in two outcomes: 1) the amount of water and 2) the quality of water collected. Our project involved a small area of permeable pavement and a small collecting tank (as a test plot for full-sized lots and tanks in the future), so measurements after relatively light rainfalls will be especially important. As mandated by the CWA: Clean Water Act—Section 104, the quality of the water from runoff will be tested to determine the extent of chemical and biological contaminants. The impact of these pollutants on the quality of water may vary significantly depending upon the initial rainwater quality and the rates at which pollutants are introduced into the system.

 

In Phase II we will investigate the effect of de-icers/anti-icers on the quality of water that percolates through our paver system by using a “green” de-icing product – a Geo-melt mix – made from beet juice. Due to its biodegradable nature, the Geo-melt mix will lessen the impact of the de-icers on the environment (planet), continue to lessen the demand on the municipal storm drain system (people), as well as demonstrate the economic viability of using green products on our roadways as an alternative to the contaminant – producing de-icers currently in use (prosperity). The calculated levels of pollutants form runoff will then be used to accurately assess their effect on future control measures (Table 1, Phase I report). Demonstration of project results will be ongoing through consistently updated web pages on the USF website. Accessible to the public, it will show current data as it is collected, as well as a log explaining the data as it develops over the research period. The University will also attend Cathedral Area Preservation Association (CAPA) meetings to disseminate results to neighborhood residents and issue press releases to keep the local community informed of the project’s progress. P-3 project students will present findings at the end of semester at Senior Symposia, the Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area (ACCA) annual conference, and the Greening of Campus annual conference in Muncie, Indiana.

 

The project will be used as an educational tool in several science courses with the student leadership sustained by fellows and scholars in a number of programs, including the Natural Science programs and the Duns Scotus Honor Program. The fellows and scholars’ programs at USF are designed to create learning communities of motivated students who are challenged to excel academically. Participants are expected to do significant original research – with the goal of developing intellectual depth and, concurrently, an ethical sensibility emphasizing service. Duns Scotus Honors Program students themselves come from many different disciplines, with the individual departments and colleges setting the standards and procedures for the fellows’ and scholars’ majors in addition to the honors work done in the Duns Scotus Honors Program.

 

For the duration of the P-3 project, the collecting, testing, and recording of data will be the responsibility of the fellows and scholars, including students enrolled in the Duns Scotus Honors Program courses under the direction of the faculty advisor. Similarly, keeping written journals and updating the web pages will be the responsibility of fellows and scholars, again under the direction of the faculty advisor. While the science involved in the project will reinforce students’ skills in data collection and analysis, the written documents will especially emphasize the P-3 concepts of people, prosperity, and planet. As the project proceeds, students will research and reflect upon the demands of urban growth on water resources and the use of “green” de-icers on permeable pavers; the social and economic consequences of meeting these demands with conventional methods, and the potential for water conservation through the use of holding tanks or cisterns and gray water recycling.

 

Current science course offering at USF will provide background knowledge and promote a deeper understanding of the importance of environmentally sustainable projects and the methods used. While fellows and scholars will shoulder primary responsibilities for continuing research, students enrolled in a number of science courses will participate in the project. In addition, our entire P-3 project will be the primary focus of USF’s Earth Day celebration to inform and educate the entire campus community.

Note: Please see this site for P-3 feature in conjunction with Earth Day Celebration/Green Week in April 2009.