Today was our last day in Iceland. For our culmination of our time here, we presented our capstone projects. I worked with three other girls as a mock non-profit: Global Filtering Solutions (the pun gets me every time). Our company aimed to provide low-cost basic wastewater treatment to various underdeveloped areas via biofiltration. Through the integration of native plants known to have a filtering capacity into the wastewater streams from villages, a cleaner water stream can be produced and enter the watershed with a lesser polluting impact.
The idea for our capstone was inspired by the Eco Machine, developed by Dr. John Todd, which is an ecological, tank-based, water treatment system. This type of water treatment is also being researched at Penn State, which is how some of my group members had heard of it. We scaled our system for a ~3,000 person village in India, and got the price to roughly $2 to $3 per person to cover the capital costs for a treatment canal. Obviously, in 10 days, we could not get the depth of the science and economics that we wished to or that would make our project credible, but it was an interesting start.
It has been an amazing trip, filled with amazing people, sights, and memories. I hope to come back one day!
The "Elves" in our traditional Icelandic sweaters.
Reykjavík from the tower of Hallgrímskirkja.
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