U of A Students Present Study Results to Beaver Water District Board

Photo Submitted

l to ri: Bailey Smith, Hailey Flatte, James McCarty, Drew Stephens, Andrew Shaw.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas Biological and Agricultural Engineering students recently completed a year-long design project that examined ways to use existing dissolved air floatation technology to bring algae and other particulate matter to the surface in Beaver Lake.

The students presented their findings last month to the Beaver Water District Board of Directors and James McCarty, the district’s manager of environmental quality.

The technology the students used is important to the district because of its potential to clear algae and particulate organic material from in front of the intake structure at the water treatment plant on Beaver Lake. A successful application of this technology could be used to improve treatment efficiency within the plant and reduce the potential for the formation of disinfection byproducts. 

The Beaver Water District supplies high quality water to more than 320,000 people and industries in Northwest Arkansas.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.