Best Green Business… Treated Wastewater

In this edition:

• Best Green Business Idea Wins Presidential Grant
• Treated Wastewater Flows from Taps
• More Green Awards for MDC’s Mitch Swann

MDC® Engineer Wins Presidential Grant for Best Green Business Idea, Washington, D.C.

Amal Kabalan, MDC® Engineer

To Amal Kabalan and her fellow entrepreneurs, the plight of schoolchildren in Guinea presents a fairly basic need that inspired a simple but creative business response. Guineans don’t have much access to energy for light. Kids wear backpacks. Why not attach a solar-powered device to the backpacks, collect energy on the walk to school, and then use the stored energy to power lamps so the children could study at night?

The idea earned the 27-year-old Lebanon native $3,000 in seed money to start the venture with her new business partners — people she had met just days before and who had been selected by Athgo International, a nonprofit organization that sponsored the competition in partnership with the World Bank Speakers Bureau.

Athgo’s mission is to empower young people aged 18–32 to develop business plans for ventures that are profitable while being socially beneficial and environmentally friendly. During the second week in August, the organization brought 100 young entrepreneurs from 30 different countries to the World Bank, where the participants huddled in teams to come up with small, green technology commercial plans.

Treated Wastewater Begins to Flow from Taps Despite “Yuck Factor”

By Donald R. Keer, PE MDCSystems® Engineer

On February 9, 2012 the New York Times published the following article: “As ‘Yuck Factor’ Subsides: Treated Wastewater Flows from Taps.” This article reviewed the operation of a water reuse plant in San Diego, CA. As water stresses increase around the world it is increasingly clear that effective solutions must combine both technology and public perception education.

Water stresses exist in both developed and undeveloped countries. Some areas have surface waters available that are subject to chemical run off and other pollution. The use of surface sources can affect others downstream and the rate at which subterranean waters are renewed. Other regions have no surface sources available but have subsurface resources. Subsurface water could take years to renew or could be subject to surface effects or salt water intrusion. So, no matter the source, water is a limited resource.

Philadelphia’s Green Economy Task Force Features Mitch Swann

Mitchell Swann, PE, a Principal at MDCSystems®, was featured in Philadelphia’s Green Economy Task Force newsletter, Green Economy Leaders, which is excerpted below.

“I like Philadelphia—good points—bad points. Family is here.” In his clipped way of speaking and without any fanfare, Mitch Swann (pictured here on the left), who grew up in Germantown, lets you know he’s proud to be a Philadelphia native and plans to stick around the ‘hood giving back whenever he can.
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Mitch, who is a Partner with MDC Systems in Paoli—a firm that provides clients with comprehensive assistance in effectively navigating complex engineering and construction projects—traveled to South Philadelphia to share his time and expertise with students who are training for jobs in green construction, energy efficiency and solar installation. “We discussed the LEED program and what that means, why the marketplace is concerned about [sustainable buildings], trends, expectations for the future, ways people can get involved, an overview of green economy types of issues.”