Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 4-24-2025
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Civil Engineering
First Advisor
Matteo D'Alessio
Second Advisor
Hunain Alkhateb
Third Advisor
Grace McMahen Rushing
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The objective of this study is to determine a potential low-cost, sustainable, and rapidly deployable solution for post-wildfire flood and water quality mitigation in communities reliant on surface water for drinking water. Coalinga, Fresno County, California was selected as a study area for a full-scale solution due to its high risk of wildfires, high social vulnerability, and relatively low community resilience. A bench-scale demonstration of the system directs water into a gravel infiltration zone surrounded by a weir perimeter and followed by a clarifier. Because of their abundance in the area, almond shells were explored as a coagulant additive to the clarifier for turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) removal. Almond shells with particle sizes of sieve No. 80 (0.18 mm) – No. 50 (0.3 mm), No. 50 – No. 30 (0.6 mm), and No. 30 – No. 20 (0.85 mm) were tested at dosages of 0.075 g/L, 0.1 g/L, and 0.25 g/L, agitation rates of 10 revolutions per minute (RPM), 25 RPM, and 50 RPM, and at high and low agitation positions.
The results of this study determined that almond shells of sieve size No. 50 – No. 30 at a dosage of 0.1 g/L and an agitation rate of 10 RPM with a low agitation position exhibited the most removal capabilities. When performing in a jar test, almond shells following this criterion were able to remove over an additional 7% of turbidity compared to the control sample. The complete system was able to achieve 96% turbidity and 99% TSS removal. This study found the proposed solution to be feasible and appropriate for further development.
Recommended Citation
Ethridge, Cheyenne, "Examination of a Bench-scale Model for Post-wildfire Flood and Water Quality Mitigation Solutions" (2025). Honors Theses. 3324.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3324
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