April 20, 2015
This year Hansen, Allen & Luce (HAL) sponsored a team of Brigham Young University students to study Utah water utilities’ energy intensity.
The effort was part of BYU’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Capstone Program, which offers senior undergraduates an opportunity work on an actual project sponsored by a company or public agency and mentored by a graduate student. The student team consisted of Calvin Clark, Cody Hamblin, Trevor Jones, and Sam Mineer, plus graduate mentor Stephen Duncan and faculty advisor Jim Nelson.
HAL worked with the team throughout the academic year. In the fall the team submitted a proposal and developed a work plan. Throughout the winter they contacted water and wastewater entities all across the state, ultimately collecting data from 28 water suppliers and 11 wastewater facilities. Analysis occurred during the spring, and the team presented their results at a Capstone open house on April 13 and at HAL offices on April 16 before the semester concluded.
HAL thanks the Capstone team, BYU faculty, the Utah Division of Drinking Water, and study participants for this opportunity to contribute to ongoing water-energy nexus research in Utah.