The Tourist Photo Post (1 of many)

Manageesh with Zatter

Yesterday for breakfast we had something called manageesh (a phonetic spelling). We went to some hole in the wall---literally a recessed alcove in the front of a building, with a table and oil fryer in front and a stone oven inside---where they bake a type of bread that looks and tastes a bit like pizza dough. The bread is called gobst and they cover it with zatter, a mixture of olive oil, sesame seeds and thyme, and the combination is manageesh. It was so good and so messy and so cheap that we stuffed ourselves on the bus, and have eaten it for every meal since. The hole-in-the-wall also had fresh falafel that we got to watch being made. The cook was so fast and efficient and the falafel was beyond tasty.

The Archetypal Herd of Goats

Since we were riding on the bus, I didn't get too many opportunities to take photos until we got to the oasis, but I saw a herd of goats in the distance and made sure I got my camera ready for when we passed. I love this photo, and I love goats. Dr. Heidi keeps tempting me with the possibility for a donkey and/or camel ride when we go to Petra, but I don't know if it's going to happen, so for now I have to satisfy myself with goat pictures taken from a bus.

Jordan is also home to Bedouin tribes, and we saw a lot of tents near Azraq. What I found interesting was that a lot of the tents had satellite dishes in front of them. Near the center of the photo below, you can see the dish.

A Bedouin Tent with Satellite Dish because TV is Important

Azraq: A Desert Oasis

Clockwise from Top Left: Me, Rico, Kenten, Dr. Heidi, Siham,
Dr. Muna, Ornwipa, Maggie, Main, Ahmed, Nate and Carmen

Today we visited the Azraq Wetland Reserve, once home to a desert oasis. Once covering an area of 47 square miles (120 square kilometers), the oasis was a series of marshes, pools and a mudflat all fed by seasonal flooding and nearby springs. The unique topography of the area means that all water draining from the surrounding hills feeds into the lowland of the oasis. The following photo, while not of the highest quality, illustrates the topography beautifully.
The orange line shows the flow of underground springs contributing to the oasis, the yellow line shows the flow of flood water. These wetlands were once home to a large population of wildlife, as well as being an important stop for a million migrating birds.

Topography of the Area Surrounding the Azraq Wetland

Because of the extreme scarcity of water in Jordan, water has been pumped legally and illegally from the Azraq aquifer since the 1960s. This water goes for municipal purposes---one out of every four glasses of water drunk in Amman comes from the aquifer---as well as farming and irrigation purposes. This pumping has nearly drained the water feeding the oasis; by 1992, the oasis had shrunk to 0.04% of its original size, when water was being pumped from the oasis at a rate twice that of its ability to replenish its water reserves. A rescue effort to restore the wetlands was begun in 1994 by the Jordanian Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature. Since then, the oasis has grown to approximately 10% of its original size. Now a protected area, the Azraq Wetland Reserve covers an area of 4.6 square miles (12 square kilometers).

The Museum in Front of the Wetland Preserve

Marsh Pool at Azraq

Water Buffalo at Azraq

The water is deep enough in the marsh pools to be anoxic; 

we could see methane bubbling up from the bottom of the pool.

Aquatic Life in the Marsh Pool

The Foundation of a Watchtower Constructed
at the Oasis in the 8th Century

Wetland Grasses and Reeds Growing
at the Edge of the Wetland

Impacts of Climate Change in Jordan

Today we sat in on a conference call with Dr. Fayez Abdulla, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at JUST. Incidentally, Dr. Abdulla studied under Professor Dennis Lettenmaier at the University of Washington.

Professor Abdulla has been studying the impacts of climate change---which is real and is caused by human activity---on the water balance in Jordan. To talk about the impacts of climate change, first you need to know about the current state of the water supply. Jordan is a water scarce country, which is defined as having access to less than 1,000 cubic meters (264,000 gallons) of freshwater per person per year. The US has an estimated 9,000 cubic meters (2.4 million gallons), while Jordan has a scant 140 (37,000 gallons). 

If you live in the US, I want you to imagine cutting your water use in half, and then in half again, and do that four more times. Now picture your shower time. If you showered this morning for 10 minutes, you now have 9.4 seconds for your shower. This is the current state of the water supply in Jordan.

Due to conflicts in the region, Jordan has seen an influx of refugees in the past two decades, as well as decreased supply related due to disputes over freshwater shared with neighboring Syria and Israel. So demand has increased but supply has decreased.

A Map of the Water Resources in Jordan
(Source: mappery.com)

Results from Dr. Abdulla's study suggested that:

1. Higher temperatures are expected to reduce runoff and groundwater recharge.
2. Precipitation will decrease during October through February, the months when Jordan typically receives 80% of its rainfall.
3. Precipitation will increase slightly during March through May.

To summarize, climate change will make a bad situation worse, further decreasing supply to an already overtaxed system. On the upside, Jordan is very aware of their water situation and they have numerous government agencies addressing water planning and the creative sourcing of alternative water supplies. Thanks to the work of Dr. Abdulla, Jordan now has a better understanding of these challenges.

I Have to Get Out of the Country (and I Did!)

I am still a bit dazed from traveling and feeling dehydrated, despite having drunk four liters of water in the past 36 hours, but I am here in Jordan and feeling great.

First, the heat doesn’t seem that bad. I grew up in southeastern Idaho in a house that didn’t have air conditioning, so if I seem a bit blasé about the whole desert heat thing, it’s because I am. I got this. And when I get heat stroke because of it, feel free to tell me I told you so.

Jordan is beautiful: a bit like I expected, dusty and dry, but still beautiful. I haven’t really had time to take any spectacular photos, but I snapped a few from the balcony of the building where we’re staying. More photos to come. 

JUST has about 20,000 students: wow, just wow. I feel lucky to be here.

View from My Balcony at JUST

So I'm Going to Miss

I leave for the airport tomorrow morning.

I am going to miss:

Nathan. Handsome, smart, funny, supportive, tolerant, sometimes irritating love of my life. I love my husband.

My cat. My crazy, neurotic, co-dependent, abusive, adorable cat. I love my cat.

My friend Carissa, who doesn't judge me for being weird and is the smartest person I know, and I know some smart people. People who went to Princeton and MIT. Carissa is smarter than them. And I know she's blushing reading this.

My car. It's small, zippy, adorable. I love my car.

And the Prize for Most Convincing Heaving Brown Mass Goes to ...

Not That Dirty: A Sample of Raw Sewage from West Point

Wastewater treatment is pretty awesome. And disgusting. Our last two trips in Seattle were to the West Sound Utility (WSU) Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the West Point Treatment Plant. WSU, a small treatment plant with an average treatment capacity of 1.9 million gallons per day (MGD), located in Port Orchard on the Washington peninsula. West Point, on the other hand, has an average treatment capacity of 133 MGD and is the largest WWTP in the Pacific Northwest. Both WSU and West Point use essentially the same treatment process.

Large debris is screened from the waste stream as it enters the treatment plant and sent to a landfill. What may surprise you is the typical quality of the raw sewage. I want to be outraged at the wasted water, but our tour guide pointed out that most sewage lines are gravity drained and reducing the water content significantly may require pumping. What's a water-conscious engineer to think?

Activated Sludge Tank at WSU

After the large debris is removed, the wastewater flows through a series of sedimentation tanks, where heavy organic material sinks to the bottom, is removed from the waste stream and is sent to digester tanks. This heavy organic material is known as activated sludge, is highly microbial and pathogenic and just about as disgusting as you would imagine. The sludge was heaving like a monster from a science fiction movie. Some people get very excited about this sort of thing.

After the sedimentation tanks, the waste stream is sent to aeration and clarifier tanks where even more sludge is removed and sent to the digester tanks.

After leaving the clarifier tanks, the waste stream is chlorinated and dechlorinated, before it is discharged into the Puget Sound. Solids from the digester tanks are safe for use as soil additive.

The information presented on these tours was pretty complicated, so I hope I haven't oversimplified too much, gotten something wrong (or gone into too much detail).

Rocking the Hard Hat:
Joe, Ornwipa, Maggie, Casey, Dr. Heidi, Nate, and Rico

A note about the smell: while neither plant smelled like a field of roses, the smell wasn't that bad. Both locations are highly conscious of their neighbors and do a great job preventing odors from leaving the WWTP grounds. In any case, both plants smelled better than an Abercrombie and Fitch store.

All About Treatment and Some Insight into the Engineer Psyche

Today we went on a tour of the Tolt Water Treatment Plant, which provides approximately one-third of the water supply for Seattle. The plant was built under a design-build-operate contract, which means that although it is owned by the city of Seattle, it is operated by American Water. Our tour guide today was Alex Chen, who is extremely passionate about water quality and treatment. However, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures. So here is a basic schematic:

Kidding. Here is a better schematic.

That is also a very basic description. The process is really complicated and lots of chemistry is involved. As you may or may not know, when people start talking about chemistry, all I hear in my head is “Blah blah chocolate milk.”

Is that a Bridge? Must Investigate

The problem with chemistry is much the same problem as math. You have to start with a solid foundation. If you don’t take algebra, you can’t take trigonometry. If you don’t take trigonometry, you can’t take calculus. If you don’t take calculus, you can’t take differential equations. My problem with chemistry is that I’m stuck at trigonometry and never found my way past it. When I have time enough and chance, I will violently assault chemistry until it surrenders its mysteries to me. Until then, I’ll stick with real differential equations, which thankfully enough, are no problem.

After the tour we had lunch in the Tolt McDonald Park, which is home to a suspension bridge built by unnamed boy scouts. As a civil engineer, I am legally required to be fascinated by bridges, and this one was no disappointment. The rest of the group agreed.

We Love Bridges
From Left to Right: Carmen, Rico, Ornwipa, Joe, Maggie, Dr. Heidi, Kenton

  

Maggie Photo Bombing my Bridge Photo

Meet the Gang

Say hi to the people I'm traveling with. 

From left to right is Kenton, Joe, Rico, Carmen, Maggie, Nate, and Dr. Heidi. Ornwipa is not pictured. I'll post another photo of her later.

Here's what the awesome people I'm traveling with do when they're not getting photographed by me.

Kenton is a senior in chemical engineering. 

Joe is a junior in civil engineering. 

Rico is a senior in civil engineering. 

Carmen is a junior in civil engineering. 

Maggie is a junior in physics. 

Nate is a grad student in environmental engineering.

Dr. Heidi is a master of the universe (and lead professor on the trip)

Orwipa (pronounced Ennui-pah) is a Ph.D. student in industrial engineering.

Water Water Everywhere: Why You Shouldn't Be a Greedy Bastard

On Top of the Masonry Dam
Not Sure Why the Ladder is There

Today we visited the Cedar River Watershed. The Cedar River provides two-thirds of the water supply to Seattle, and the boundaries of the watershed are closed to protect this vital water source. We were lucky enough to visit Masonry Dam with Anna Constance, who works at the education center.

A quick overview of the watershed: the Cedar River drains into Chester Morse Lake. Masonry Dam is located at the lake outlet, and penstocks divert 20% of the river's volume while the remaining 80% continues to flow downstream in the Cedar River. The Cedar River Watershed, which has provided water for the citizens of Seattle since 1901, is owned by the City of Seattle, who manages the 91,000 acres of the watershed. The City of Seattle is concerned not just with water quality, but also preserving biodiversity.

Looking Down the Spillway of Masonry Dam

Before we went on the tour, our lead professor, Dr. Heidi Gough, asked us to list reasons why we should conserve water in a water-rich nation. To people outside Seattle, this might seem like a silly question, particularly since the Midwest is currently experiencing the worst drought in 50 years. In the past decade in Seattle, our problem has more frequently been flooding, not drought. Current predictions by the City of Seattle suggest that with population growth, the current water supply is enough to meet the demands of Seattle's population until 2060. So why should we in Seattle worry about water conservation?

Secondary Spillway on Masonry Dam

Here's what I think:

1. Saving water uses less energy for treating and heating water.
2. Saving water creates less wastewater, which in turn uses less energy and puts less stress on low-capacity sewer networks.
3. Our current water usage habits are unsustainable in the long-term: developing water-saving habits now prepares us for a future when water resources are scarce.
4. You should never live your life by the motto, “I’ve got mine.”
5. One billion people in this world don't have access to clean drinking water. Every 19 seconds, a child dies from a water-borne illness. Knowing that, can you treat water as if it means nothing?

Seattle under Seattle and the Definition of Head

Water resources engineers like weird technical terms. One of those terms is head (no snickering), which was explained to me as the height of the geyser that would occur if you were to poke a hole in a pressurized pipe. Right. Super clear.

An Old Seattle Toilet;
Not Sure if This One's a Crapper

I was reminded of this term on my first day of class (getting ready for our trip to Jordan), during the Underground Tour of Seattle. The first settlers in Seattle built houses right on Elliot Bay. They also built outhouses right on Elliot Bay, and when the tide would come in, it would sweep sewage right out from under their outhouses and out into Elliot Bay. Lovely.

When the modern toilet, aka the “Crapper” (named supposedly for Thomas A. Crapper) came to Seattle, it was an extremely popular item. The problem with the Crapper was that it had to connect to a city sewer network, so the people of Seattle hastily installed a six-inch wooden box pipe (what is Manning’s n for a wooden pipe?) that drained into Elliot Bay.

A Cross-Section of a Wooden Pipe

When the tide came in, it would cause sewage to back up the pipe and into people’s Crappers. Some reports say the resulting seawater/sewage geyser was as high as three to four feet above the toilet level (Source: Mary, tour guide for The Underground Tour). So here we have another definition of head: the height of a geyser that occurs when you flush your toilet during high tide in downtown Seattle.

In 1889, a fire in a glue factory burned down much of the downtown Seattle area. Being the smart city planners they were, they decided to build the new Seattle on top of the old city, high enough to mitigate the sewer geyser problem, allowing sewage to drain as gravity intended.

Side View of a Wooden Pipe

Our tour today led to an interesting discussion during class about the density of seawater---1029 kilograms per cubic meter---versus sewage---approximately 729 kilograms per cubic meter (Source: www.aqua-calc.com). However, I can't guarantee the accuracy of the  value for sewage density because I don't know: a) how many gallons per flush the Crapper used, b) the quality or lack thereof of the toilet paper at use in pre-20th century Seattle, and c) how much water Seattle citizens were drinking nor how much roughage they were eating on a daily basis. On the whole, 729 seems like a good number, mostly because I definitely don't want to do more research on the subject.

Toilet on Display in the Underground Gift Shop

Advertise for a Toilet (Not a Crapper)

Speaking of sewage, after the tour, I bought a book on the history of Seattle. I took my book, sat down under a tree in Pioneer Square, and cracked it open randomly to page 287. A bird crapped on my book about the Crapper. As Forrest Gump once said, "It happens."