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Cyano-Light

The creation of the Cyano-Light was a project carried out by 6th year alumni from Newlands High School. Its purpose is to carry out the early detection of the proliferation of cyanobacteria in order to prevent their contact with the neighboring population and avoid their impacts on health.

Here, we present the state of the matter, which includes the explanation of the issue and the knowledge available to date in relation to the topic.

Document presenting the State of Art

We selected this topic after looking through environmental issues mainly involving water bodies, which led to the most detailed investigation of the case of the Chascomús lagoon. This lagoon has varying levels of presence of cyanobacteria that are harmful to human health. Likewise, various sports and tourist activities are carried out in the lagoon with almost no awareness of the abrasive effects of cyanobacteria.

With this in mind, we created a version of the already existing “Ciano-Semaforo” which could be tangible rather than digital. The idea is based on a buoy and a floating traffic light which, depending on the level of cyanobacteria detected by the buoy, turns on a light according to the danger (red, yellow and green). The traffic light will thus alert people from the shore, raising awareness about the dangers of this bacteria.

Explanatory video of the Cyano-Light.
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AEROBALDE

“Aerobalde” is a project done by the 6th year studients at the Secondary School that deals with the problem of the lack of drinking water in Villa Atamisqui, Santiago del Estero, which is a town that does not have water because it is a town that has been in a great drought for years. This project’s initiative is to help the people obtain drinking water and thus be able to help them satisfy their basic needs since they do not have enough resources. Below I share with you the State of the Art document that has been investigated and what is known about this problem today.

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Microclean

MicroClean is a project carried out by 6th-year students from the Secondary School. It addresses the issue of microplastics in bodies of water.

As many people know, microplastics contaminate both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. This is a global problem. These particles can pollute water undetected, sometimes for months. Therefore, detecting this type of material is key.

Below, we present the state of the art, which outlines the problem and the current knowledge on the subject.

The decision to focus on microplastics stems from the fact that these contaminants, due to their tiny size, are particularly difficult to remove using conventional methods and often go unnoticed, progressively accumulating in the environment. They not only harm aquatic life but can also enter the food chain, posing potential long-term risks to human health.

Thus, we set out to create a device capable of effectively and sustainably addressing this issue.

MicroClean is a prototype specifically designed to capture and eliminate microplastics in bodies of water. This prototype is made from bioplastics—plastic materials derived from renewable sources such as plants, vegetable oils, starches, or microorganisms, instead of petroleum-based sources. They are biodegradable.

In this case, we envision its use in Lake Viedma. Its approach not only enables the efficient collection of plastic particles but also does so without harming aquatic organisms or disrupting the lake’s natural balance. The creation of MicroClean addresses the need to remove microplastics from bodies of water.

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Mi Aysa

Since we have memory, we have been taught both at home and in school about the care of the most precious resource for humans: water. It can be as simple as ‘when we brush our teeth, we should turn off the tap’ or ‘let’s not take too long in the shower.’ From a young age, we have automated these actions into our daily habits.

Nowadays, we see it as a routine, requiring no effort to perform these actions. It goes beyond thinking about the bills for water consumption; it is ingrained in our subconscious to care about water usage. However, a significant portion of the population is not conscious of water conservation. We didn’t have to go far to find this issue; a great example is the Federal Capital, Buenos Aires. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each individual residing in the capital consumes 612 liters of drinking water per day, while the WHO suggests that an individual only needs 100 liters of water to meet their needs. Why does this happen? A report from the Ciudad Foundation explains that this occurs due to a low level of awareness, citizen participation, and adherence to coexistence norms. Not to mention the fact that the government fails in its role of controlling this matter. There are not many proposed solutions, but today there is the BA 147 application. In this app, citizens of Buenos Aires can report, make complaints, and submit requests about the city. This enables citizens, through the application, to report situations of illicit water consumption, allowing the government to take action

Solution:

As we know, not everywhere teaches these values regarding water conservation or adheres to the regulations governing the responsible use of this resource. We have conceived an idea for a solution. Create an app where each family or individual residing in the federal capital can connect, register their residence, and then be responsible for paying their water consumption bills. If they exceed the 100 liters of water that the World Health Organization estimates as necessary to meet individual needs, these individuals will have to pay an additional fee on top of the water bill. Separately, the app will have an awareness section informing users about all the consequences of daily water wastage and providing basic solutions to reduce it.

Conclusion:

We have conducted an analysis of the water issue in the Federal Capital, its consequences, and the measures being taken in this regard. In the process, we focused on the problem of water wastage due to a lack of household care and concluded that one of the most crucial points to address this issue is education. Since this situation could improve with the simple act of changing some habits, it is essential for society to be informed and able to care for water.

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Sea Aid

Sea Aid es un proyecto realizado por alumnos de 6to año de la Escuela Secundaria el cual trata la problemática de residuos en los océanos. Como es de público conocimiento, la contaminación marina está siendo cada día un problema más grande, arrojándose entre 8 y 12 toneladas de plástico al mar por año.

A continuación comparto el estado del arte en el cual figura el recorte del problema y lo que se sabe de ello al día de hoy.

Nuestra idea:

La elección del problema, surgió a raíz de una charla que tuvimos en el colegio a cargo de dos buzos profesionales, quienes nos comentaron cómo, al bucear, cuentan con bolsas de red las cuales utilizan para recolectar la basura que se van encontrando durante la exploración.

A raíz de eso, nos pusimos a pensar en la forma en la cual se podría optimizar ese tiempo de recolección para así lograr juntar más plásticos en menos tiempo.

Planteamos una solución más automatizada la cual se pudiera llevar a mayor escala sin necesidad de requerir de tantas personas. Concluimos en que la mejor manera de hacerlo era directamente evitando que los residuos ingresaran al océano.

Para esto, ideamos un dispositivo que se va a encargar, mediante una garra, de recolectar basura que se encuentre en la costa. El mismo está programado, mediante un sensor de proximidad, para alejarse del mar en caso de estar cerca de él.

Explicación del proyecto y prototipo:

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Microplastics

Microplastics, imperceptible threat

Microplastics are plastics whose size ranges from 3 to 5 nanometers. To keep in mind, 1 nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter. These are products of the erosion and degradation of plastic and can end up in the seas and even in the air we breathe. If we breathe it, it will end up in our lungs, and if it ends up in the sea it will most probably end up in a fish that will then be eaten by someone. In addition, some microplastic particles are so small that they can even pass through the pores of our skin.

Microplastics are a global problem that is increasing with the production of plastic.


Proposed solution

After researching, we concluded that the most direct and easiest way to reduce the amount of microplastics is to simply reduce the amount of plastics. Plastics are generated by man, so it falls on our hands to reduce their quantity.

The best way to reduce the amount of plastic is through responsible consumption and avoiding the use of plastic, however this is not always possible, so another option is to recycle. However, this can be a tricky process as people sometimes get confused as to which bin the items they want to throw belong to. This is why we ideated a smart bin, which we integrated with a strong artificial intelligence which was trained to distinguish between different types of waste. Through this, the sensor can predict what type of waste was thrown away.

Also, once the plastics are taken to the recycling center, not all the plastic is recycled. That is why we put those leftover plastics in a in a container, near the recycling plants, with silkworms and zophobas morio. This are worms that can break down polyethylene and polystyrene, which are two of the most widely used plastics in the industry.

It should be clarified that after finishing the project, we found out that it already existed. However, ours is different from the other one in that it only allows one residue at a time while ours allows many. The other smart bin is called bin-e.


Conclusion

We really think that it is necessary to reduce the amount of plastics in the world to make sure that microplastics never become a real problem. The reduction of plastics guarantees our future and will be a great step to continue advancing in the future.

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EcoRío de La Plata

Environmental problematic: River Plate contamination.

The River Plate, located in south-west South America, originates from the junction between The Paraná and the Uruguay rivers. It flows between Argentina and Uruguay and into the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most important rivers in America. It was born pure and clean but now it is used as a trash can. It was formed 2,4 million years ago. The River Plate, in its whole extension, suffers from contamination from the most varied origins, which affects the 15 million people living at its coasts. The river, that in previous centuries contained clear water, is now a deposit of residual water from the industrial and agricultural areas. The causes of its contamination originate at the urban and industrial effluents, which do not receive adequate treatment, in this case, they are the Medrano and Luján Reconquista creeks, and the Riachuelo. There, you can see disturbances in the natural environment, caused by population growth, an increase in urbanization and of agricultural, ranching and industrial activities. This is reflected in the decrease of water quality, the habitats disturbance and the decrease of biodiversity, in the basin as well as in the coast.

Industrial Effluents Treating Plant

PREVIOUS STEPS
  • Step 1: Get authorization to check if factories and industries have a non-treated water disposal which falls into the streams that flow into the River Plate.
  • Step 2: After verifying whether industries have water disposals that fall into the streams that flow into the River Plate, a law is established which compels factories and industries to install this industrial purification treatment. If the law is not complied, fines will have to be paid, or industries might even be closed down.  
    1. Step 3: Installation of the treatment in each of the contaminating industries.

      Purification Plant

      1   Pre-Treatment:  The polluted water flows through metallic nets that retain the solid elements, which are recolected and are then carried to waste treatment plants, the water continues through the process.

      • Decanting basin: The liquids go to decanting basins, where solid elements are isolated and decant due to gravity, although the process is accelerated by using aluminium sulfate.
      • Purification: Then, the liquid goes to water purifiers, according to which chemical the each factory wants to eliminate. The purifiers reduce their parts per million (ppm), as they can not eliminate the chemical completely. 
      • River Plate: Finally, the polluting liquids turn into natural water and are thrown back into the River Plate.

  • Objectives

    Reducing the amount of solid and chemical waste present in the River Plate. If possible, eliminating them completely, at long term. Moreover, there is another very important objective, which is making factories and industries to do something and putting this project into practice, as it would be impossible to accomplish it without them.

    The main pollution sources are:

    •      Ammonium, nitrite, other metals.
    •      Sewage.

    They come from:

    •      Alcoholic drinks’ factories (3%)
    •      Pharmaceutical, chemical, and petrochemical industries (30%)
    •      Desechos cloacales y otras industrias (67%)

    Contaminating affluents:

    •      Riachuelo, Arroyo Sarandí, Santo Domingo, Jimenez, Conchitas, Baldovinos, Pereyra.

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A habitable Riachuelo

Water pollution in the Riachuelo caused by industrial waste
While investigating the subject of water pollution by industrial waste we identified that nowadays, the main problem in Argentina is the pollution of the Riachuelo. This tributary is located in the city of Buenos Aires and it ends in the Rio de la Plata. This problem is very important specially because of the direct consequences it has on the 5 million people that live in its surroundings. Heavy metals, such as lead, chrome, mercury and cadmium, progressively accumulate in the body and cause intoxication. The continuous presence of solid waste causes the loss of biodiversity and the contamination of underground water sources.

Estado del arte

Solution Proposal
The main objective of our project is to remove the solid waste and heavy metals from the river to improve the quality of life for the people who live in its surroundings and to stop the loss of biodiversity. To accomplish this, we designed a plan that consists of two stages. The first stage would be to install a system called hidohigienizador that is carried by two hydrofoils to collect the solid waste that is on the surface of the river. The second stage would be the installation of aquatic plants capable of absorbing the heavy metals present in the river.
The hidrohigienizador consists of a float that sits on the surface of the river and a conical skirt three meters deep. The float gives floatability to the system and it avoids the solid waste from flowing above it, while the conical skirt avoids the waste from flowing under it. Additionally, the skirt allows the fish to swim under the system.

Hidrohigienizador

Hidrohigienizador

The hidrohigienizador is carried by two hydrofoils that are at the extremes. We chose to use hydrofoils for various reasons. To begin with, it´s flat background design is ideal to avoid the embarkation from being stuck or damaged by the solid waste. Moreover, the driver would be located on an elevated seat, in a covered cabin to take care of their health and have better visibility of objects that could damage the system. Lastly, the installation of solar panels to propel the aviation propeller would avoid the use of petrol and cause less damage to the environment as it is a renewable energy.

Lechuga de agua

For the second stage of our project we would be using phytoremediation, a technology based on the capacity of some plants to tolerate, absorb, accumulate and degrade organic or inorganic contaminating compounds. The type of phytoremediation we are interested in is phytoextraction. It is based on the fact that, through physiologic processes, plants can act as suction bombs and extract the metals from the water through their roots and accumulate them on their tissues. Once they have accumulated the metals, the plants are harvested and transported to a controlled disposal or incinerated. The plants we chose for our project are jacinto de agua and lechuga de agua.

Conclusion

Our project will remove the solid industrial waste and toxic waste from the Riachuelo, improving the quality of life for the people who live in its surroundings. In addition, it will improve the environment, stopping the loss of biodiversity.

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Wireless Streets

One of the most important resources in our lives is the water due to the fact that it is a non-renewable source so we must protect it. Nevertheless, nowadays the economic interests are more important than environmental interests. This is one of the reasons why this resource is so affected by the overuse and the pollution. The pulling out of oil and gas is one of the causes why water is used in an excessive and wrong way. One of the techniques of extraction that requires a lot of water is called fracking.

Our environmental problematic

The fracking technique is used for the extraction of petroleum and gas. The big problem is that it generates a very big environmental impact that is very risky since it can generate earthquakes, greenhouse effect and especially it pollutes not only the water used for the extraction but also the near aquifers. The pollution is produced by the use of chemicals on the water, that after it is used to extract petroleum and gas it cannot be used for consumption. The water that cannot be used again is stored in pools in the open that are not isolated, therefore they pollute the near rivers.

The document below is our investigation on the topic, quoting the specialists Germán Hazana and Víctor Bravo.

How can we solve it?

We imagined a solution to mitigate the environmental impact that fracking causes and we created a prototype. Our project is called “La huella ecológica del Fracking: ¿Cuánto sufre el agua con esta técnica?” We thought about how to reduce the use of petrol and in this way reducing the practice of fracking, given the fact that this technique needs the compulsory use of water and the contamination with chemicals is inevitable. Therefore we have to go even further and reduce the use of petrol and replace it for renewable energies.

Our solution idea – Wireless Streets

Our first idea was to create streets with solar panels on them. In this way, the energy created by the solar panel would charge the electric cars through electromagnetic induction. However, this would be very expensive.

So, instead of streets full of solar panels, we decided to create special sections for electric cars. People would be able to park them in those special places and charge them with the energy from the solar panels that are in that sector. The whole system would be the same, each car will have a sim card that stores the information of how much energy used the car to charge.

This chip is connected to the driver’s cell phone through Bluetooth. If the cell phone is not connected to the chip’s Bluetooth, the system will stock up in a memory how much energy the car has utilized and afterward when the cell phone is connected, the corresponding data will be passed. Through the App SOLAR FUEL, the chip’s information will be upload to the App, and from it to the cloud. At the end of the month, the money is collected by the credit card that was added to the App. The solar panels will be placed in high zones for the sunlight to reach more time during the day. This zones can be placed in gas stations, shopping malls or in parking lots, so for the time that you have to wait the car charges. The solar panels feed the wireless chargers and the wireless charger charges the car.

 

 

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Precipitation Islands

What are Precipitation Islands?

The Precipitation Islands is the name that takes a new proposal to fight against the floods and at the same time the deforestation. This project is as friendly to the environment as it is to the economy since the resources needed to carry it out come from nature and others are artificial but it is proven that they do not cause a negative impact on it. The idea is to get rid of excess water in rural areas of the interior.
The idea is to form extensive hills up to 2 meters high formed by a mixture of soil and sodium polyacrylate (Hydrogel) and above planting multiple rows of eucalyptus. These hills will be located in the low-lying areas generally flooded and were given the name of “Precipitation Islands” because this is the way they look like when these areas are covered with water.

What is an hydrogel?

This is how they are called superabsorbent polymers, these are generally organic macromolecules (carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds) that are formed by the union of smaller molecules called monomers. Hydrogels can absorb large amounts of water through hydrogen bonding bonds, so much that 13 grams absorb 1 liter of water. This characteristic of these compounds is already used in the world of agriculture, is the sodium polyacrylate sold in powder form to add to the earth which favors and optimizes incredibly the growth of the plants as they give it to these, easier access to water and other nutrients. While sodium polyacrylate can absorb a large amount of water, one should not worry about drowned plants, they will only take what they need and the rest will be retained until necessary. It is also important to mention that the hydrogels and the trees form a circle, the hydrogels absorb the water in excess and at the same time the plants transpire it into the atmosphere.

Why Eucalyptus? 

Eucalyptus is also known as the “selfish tree” because it can absorb large amounts of water compared to other trees, due to its high rate of evapotranspiration. It is estimated that a eucalyptus consumes 20 liters of water per day, that is, if we think of islands with an average of 1,000 trees, we would be talking about 20,000 liters a day. This characteristic is what allows the tree to grow in such a short period of time, in about 10 years a tree can grow to no less than 10 meters depending on soil conditions. It can reach 70 m in height and 2 m in diameter in our country, although it usually exceeds 50 m in height and 1.50 m in diameter and can live up to 100 years. While its great absorption may be very favorable for the project, care must be taken because it is this same characteristic that can be the cause of severe droughts as happened with Kenya, whose government is currently fighting against the eucalyptus trees because they are compromising the limited water sources of the country.
In relation to the project, it can already be said that the trees will have an easy access to water and nutrients so that what can already be assured is a very rapid development of the trees. The eucalyptus is also a tree with a large rooting, unless hurricane winds are produced it is very unlikely that the wind will knock it down and even less when we talk about many trees together forming a great protective barrier.
In terms of climate, eucalyptus prefers humid, frost-free climates and its temperature range ranges from -3 ° C to 40 ° C.
Despite the fact that these trees can withstand temporary mudslides, they always run the risk of drowning, in a situation like this, as previously stated, the hydrogels will be in charge of helping the plant in these cases, and also, the elevation that the islands will have they will always allow the trees to stay safe.

To know more about the situation of the issue, you can do it through the following document: