Caption:
Associate professor of soil science Phillip Barak (center) discusses a microscopic view of a struvite crystal with students Merin Abraham (left) and Menachem Tabanpour (right) on July 23, 2008, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Struvite is a phosphate mineral that clings to the insides of equipment at sewage treatment plants and causes pipes to clog as it collects in cement-like chunks. Barak and his students are working with the Madison sewage treatment plant to develop a solution to the problem.
Photo by: Bryce Richter
Date: July 2008
High-resolution JPEG
Caption: University of Wisconsin-Madison students Menachem Tabanpour (left) and Merin Abraham (right) are assisted by operations engineer Steve Reusser (center) as they collect a sample of sludge from the Madison sewage treatment plant on July 15, 2008. The students are working with UW-Madison soil science professor Phillip Barak to develop a solution to combat the build-up of a phosphate mineral called struvite in the pipes of sewage treatment plant equipment.
Photo by: Bryce Richter
Date: July 2008
High-resolution JPEG
Caption: Struvite, a phosphate mineral, clings to the interior walls of a heat exchanger at the Madison sewage treatment plant on July 15, 2008. University of Wisconsin-Madison soil science professor Phillip Barak and two of his students are working to develop a way to stop the mineral from forming cement-like blockages inside sewage treatment pipes.
Photo by: Bryce Richter
Date: July 2008
High-resolution JPEG