A comparative analysis of the Knoxville and surrounding area waste-water treatment facilities : implications for science education in East Tennessee

The purpose of this study was dual in nature. First, the study was designed to analyze and compare the Knoxville and immediate surrounding area waste-water treatment facilities in order to determine their effectiveness in effluent removal, their impact on water pollution, and their provision of a course for solution. Second, by analyzing the waste-water treatment plants, the researcher has developed a teaching procedure using modern equipment and the surrounding geographic area which can be useful to high school science teachers in the East Tennessee region.

The primary methods of obtaining data in this research were in the form of interviewing waste-water plant engineers and laboratory personnel, guided plant visitations, documented correspondence between plant directors and the Department of Public Health, reference books, and personal letters written to the researcher from plant engineers.

In order to thoroughly analyze the efficiency of each waste-water treatment plant and fully develop a teaching procedure, the researcher obtained water samples immediately above each plant and five miles below the effluent input location. The tests which were performed on these samples included: pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and phosphate. These particular tests provided a good indication of the general water quality in terms of fish and other aquatic life.

The major findings of the research were that a definite relationship exists between eutrophic conditions present in the water and the waste-water treatment plants with the most primitive type of sewage treatment. If these inadequate types of waste-water treatment remain in the next decade, fish and other aquatic life will significantly decrease in population.

It is the belief of the researcher that the methods used in analyzing the waste-water treatment plants would be of great significance if similar procedures described in this study were implemented in local or regional secondary science classes. This would increase public awareness and most importantly create within students a genuine concern for their environment.