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Disclaimer — This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the University
of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper is based on
publicly available information and may not be provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used for any
purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at
the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.
THE USE OF CARBON NANOTUBES TO CONTROL FRACKING WASTE
WATER POLLUTION IN THE ALLEGHENY RIVER
Andrew Dawson, awd20@pitt.edu, Sanchez 10:00, Sarah Leptinsky, scl46@pitt.edu, Sanchez 10:00
Revised Proposal — With the Earth’s growing population,
researchers have come to realize one major issue: a lack of
useable resources, specifically water. Everyday, waste is
dumped into rivers and streams, allowing this useable water
to go to waste and harming the organisms in the environment
[1]. One easy and cost effective way this problem can be solved
is through the use of nanotechnology. This method is a lot
easier to use than conventional water purification processes
because one would simply have to insert the nanoparticles into
underground water sources instead of pumping the water up
for treatment. The traditional water filtration process uses
semi permeable membranes for reverse osmosis, but
nanotechnology decreases the pore size of the membrane to the
nanometer range, thus enabling an increase in selectivity of
the molecules allowed to pass through [2]. After researching
all the types of nanotechnology available, we feel that using
carbon nanotubes would be the most successful, because they
require less energy to absorb particles, thus making them more
prone to absorb pollutants [3]. It has come to our attention
that fracking, a method of inserting water into mines to release
natural gas, is a serious environmental issue in Pennsylvania.
Fracking industries will inject the harmful fracking water
either back into the Earth’s soil or into the Ohio or Allegheny
Rivers [4]. This practice causes serious pollution and
environmental hazards. We know that the nanotechnology can
be a valid solution to this waste problem.
This issue cannot be ignored. The environment affects
everyone—from the smallest organisms to humans—so we
cannot let the Earth go to waste. The current process that
fracking companies use to take care of the fracking waste is to
drive it from Pittsburgh to Ohio and dispose of it there. With
this process they are wasting both money and gas, and not to
mention hurting the environment with gas fumes. This is just
as bad as dumping the waste into the river, hurting hundreds
of organisms and contaminating perfectly good water,
especially since most of Pittsburgh’s residences’ drinking
water comes from the nearby rivers. [5].
We plan to research articles dealing with both the pros and
cons of nanotechnology, and are hoping to conclude that using
carbon nanotubes is a cost effective, efficient way to purify
fracking wastewater. However, if possible harmful effects
arise from using this technology, we will consult the
Professional Engineer’s Code of Ethics to determine what
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering 1
1/29/16
should be done. We also we plan to meet with Dr. Morris, a
chemistry professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and ask
her questions to better understand the chemistry of this
application of nanotechnology. Lastly we will research the
current solution for the pollution in the Allegheny River and
see if any improvements have been made in recent years.
REFERENCES
[1] P. Sampat (2012) “Over 180M Tons of Toxic Waste
Dumped Into World’s Oceans, Rivers, and Lakes Each Year”
Earth Island Journel (Online Article)
<http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRea
d/over_180m_tons_of_toxic_waste_dumped_into_worlds_oc
eans_rivers_and_lakes_ea/>
[2] J. Zhao (2009). “Turning Nanotechnology for Pollution
Control: Applications of Nanoparticles.” Dartmouth
Undergraduate Journal of Science. (Online Article). <
http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/winter-2009/turning-tonanotechnology-for-pollution-control-applications-ofnanoparticles#.Vpa_JBUrIaR>
[3] B. Nowack "Pollution Prevent and Treatment Using
Nanotechnology."
Wiley.
(Online
Journel).
<http://www.wileyvch.de/books/sample/352731735X_c01.pdf>
[4] S. Kelly (2014) “Pennsylvania Plant Agrees to Stop
Dumping Partially-Treated Fracking Wastewater in River
After Lengthy Lawsuit” (Online Article)
<http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/09/16/pennsylvaniawastewater-treatment-plant-agrees-stop-dumping-partiallytreated-fracking-wastewater-river-after-year>
[5] “Quality Drinking Water” PGH2O (Online Article)
<http://www.pgh2o.com/quality-drinking-water>
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. Sampat (2012) “Over 180M Tons of Toxic Waste Dumped
Into World’s Oceans, Rivers, and Lakes Each Year” Earth
Island Journel (Online Article)
<http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRea
d/over_180m_tons_of_toxic_waste_dumped_into_worlds_oc
eans_rivers_and_lakes_ea/>
This is a article, from a professional online journal about
Andrew Dawson
Sarah Leptinsky
the environment, details some of the horrible waste that finds
its ways into our rivers, and more importantly, our drinking
water. We plan on using this source as one of the inspirations
for our research-finding a more effective way to remove
pollutants from our rivers.
R. Drouin. (Febryary 18, 2014). “As Fracking Booms,
Growing Concerns About Wastewater.” Environment 360.
(website).
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/as_fracking_booms_growing_co
ncerns_about_wastewater/2740/
This is an environments blog called Environmental 360 by
Yale University’s school of Forestry and Environmental
Studies. This article discusses the harmful affect s fracking has
on waterways and the concerns about the wastewater. We plan
to use this article to emphasize the importance of taking care
of the pollution caused by fracking.
J. Zhao (2009). “Turning Nanotechnology for Pollution
Control: Applications of Nanoparticles.” Dartmouth
Undergraduate Journal of Science. (Online Article). <
http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/winter-2009/turning-tonanotechnology-for-pollution-control-applications-ofnanoparticles#.Vpa_JBUrIaR>
This journal was published by the University of Dartmoth
describing the potential
effectiveness for using
nanotechnology to help purify wastewater. It includes the
current methods of water purification, and how it can be
improved through the use of nanotechnology. This source is
going to be key in our paper, and we plan to use to to learn and
write about how nanotechnology can be used to purify water.
J. Hoffman (2015). “Potential Health and Environmental
Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin, Montana”
Geology and Human Health. (Online Blog).
<http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studi
es/hydrofracking_w.html>
J. Hoffman: This is an article is about the harmful effects of
hydrofracking on the environment. This article is by the
National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). In this
article, the author discusses all the potential health effects that
come with the use of hydrofracking. We plan to use this article
to demonstrate the need to clean up our waterways that are
polluted with the use of hydrofracking.
B. Nowack "Pollution Prevent and Treatment Using
Nanotechnology."
Wiley.
(Online
Journel).
<http://www.wileyvch.de/books/sample/352731735X_c01.pdf>
This source is an online scholarly article written by Dr.
Bernd Nowack, who specializes in nanotechnology. It details
the possible use of nanotechnology for water purification, and
why carbon nanotubes are the best option. We plan on using
this as a focal point in our paper, to help us come to a
conclusion on the effectiveness of this technology.
I. Gehrke, A. Geiser, A. Somborn-Schulz (2015).
“Innovations in Nanotechnology for Water Treatment” PMC.
(Online Article). <
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4294021/>
This article is by the US National Library of Medicine and
National Institutes of Health and deals with the Innovations in
Nanotechnology for water treatment. This article goes into
detail about how nanotechnology can help treat polluted water
and all the future opportunities it has. We intend to use this
article to discuss future uses of the technology and how it can
be helpful to the environment.
S. Kelly (2014) “Pennsylvania Plant Agrees to Stop Dumping
Partially-Treated Fracking Wastewater in River After Lengthy
Lawsuit” (Online Article)
http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/09/16/pennsylvaniawastewater-treatment-plant-agrees-stop-dumping-partiallytreated-fracking-wastewater-river-after-year
This article is a blog and talks about fracking in
Pennsylvania and the harmful effects in waterways. In this
article, the author goes in depth about how Pennsylvania
Rivers are affected by fracking and how Pennsylvania is
agreeing to stop dumping partially treated fracking wastewater
into the rivers. We will use this article as proof that wastewater
from fracking is being dumped into the rivers.
B. Liggett (2011). "Researchers Find Carbon Nanotubes Have
Harmful Effects on Waterways and Algae Health.'
Inhabitat.<http://inhabitat.com/researchers-find-carbonnanotubes-have-harmful-effects-on-waterways-and-algaehealth/>
This article deals with the ethics of carbon nanotubes and is
from a science blog called inhabitant. This article deals this the
potential hazards of carbon nanotubes and discusses how
carbon nanotubes are fairly new and not all the effects on the
environment are known yet. We intend to use this as out ethics
problem in the paper.
“Quality Drinking Water” PGH2O (Online Article)
http://www.pgh2o.com/quality-drinking-water
This is an article on PGH2O’s cooperate website, stating
that they get their water from the Allegany river, where it is
then piped to The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority’s
(PWSA) 300,000+ customers. This article contains the proof
that some of Pittsburgh’s drinking water comes from the
Allegany River. This is one of the main focus’ of our paper,
and we plan to use this information as our motivation in our
research to figure out a way to better purify the water we drink.
“Choosing a Topic.” Freshmen Engineering – Oakland
Campus.
(video).
http://www.library.pitt.edu/other/files/il/fresheng/index.html
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