Desalination system to purify water for BBC Marine Science Department

By: Jeronimo Boza/Contributing Writer

With the incentive of one day being able to offer purified water to the faculties and students, the Marine Science Department located at the Biscayne Bay Campus is working in the development of a desalination structure whose objective is to purify the water coming from the bay for the use in student’s projects and the faculty’s research.

The mechanism was installed in 2006, the same year the building was built, with intention of exploration and conservation of marine sources. The actual production of the salt water system is already completed and some professors are currently able to use it for their research. Although the instrument has been in operation for some missions, the ultraviolet sterilization system is not fully installed yet and the uses for more deep investigation are limited.

“The infrastructure to purify the water was installed the same year the building was built; however, we are still missing some essential instruments before being able to completely supply the water needed for our purposes,” said Adolfo Fernandez, the marine science building manager and also the most informed person about the construction and process of the desalination machine.

It has been five years since the desalination machine was first set into the building’s construction, and during that time the marine science faculty have been trying to get all the essential pieces needed in order to make it work at the desired level. Throughout 2010, they worked on its construction, and most of the essential work done was made during the last months of the year.

“Part of the system was finally purchased in 2009 and assembled throughout 2010,” said Fernandez. “I believe most of the work to install it was accomplished during October 2010.”

According to Fernandez, the desalination machine will represent a wide source of research, which will continue the progress of certain missions. One of their projects consists in the Coral Holding System, which studies the diversity of coral species, and is conducted by one of the faculty members Dr. Rebecca Vega Thurber. There is also the maintenance of water species, by bringing them into tanks or the aquarium located on the first floor where the staff can look after the specimens, observing them from the embryonic to maturity phase.

“This will help our faculty that work with the coral reef system as they collect live coral to [study, maintain and preserve  other water specimens] by bringing salt water into the tanks,” said Fernandez.

The entire accomplishment of the desalination system will assist the faculty members and the students in extensive ways. It will allow the expansion of research fields for investigative matters, it will increase the possibilities to detect contaminated water coming though the bay, and facilitate the studies of marine species.

The process of putting this purifying machinery to work is something the students of the Marine Science Department are still not deeply aware of. This process excludes the students and focuses on those who are in charge of building the structure and the devices needed to finish it. This does not mean the students are not able to develop their investigative projects; the use of this source is totally open to fair use depending on the type of research.

“The students have all the access to operate it under certain parameters of investigation for the correct development of their projects and research,” Fernandez said, “It’s only a matter of discussing this with the faculty members or with me, since I am the building manager.”