Electrification of AguaClara Off-grid Water Treatment Plants in Rural Honduras Using Hydroelectricity

Abstract

AguaClara water treatment plants operate off-grid using only the power of gravity and chemical doses to make turbid water safe for drinking, even exceeding EPA standards for water quality. However, electricity is still an important component to the plant operator's experience for powering lights to run the plant at night and charging phones and other small electronics. Some plants can connect to the grid, but this increases monthly operation costs and is not always an option. Others use solar panels, but these require a significant capital investment and cannot always meet electrical demand. The flow of the incoming water represents a powerful source of untapped energy that is readily available without experiencing outages. This kinetic energy is all lost when the water is simply dumped into the entrance tank basin. The purpose of this research is to assess the electrical needs of AguaClara plants and develop a process for hydro electrification that can most efficiently use that flow to produce electrical power that meets a plant’s current and future energy demands.No embargoAcademic Major: Electrical and Computer Engineerin