THE WATER QUALITY PROBLEM IN ALBUQUERQUE'S

SOUTH VALLEY

Overview
Students against pollution is pleased to present a proposal to the EPA for the services and
support on the water quality problem in Albuquerque's South Valley. We are a local
student organization from the University of New Mexico and we have come together
under the same common concern of the pollution of our water. This water effects so many
different aspects of the citizens everyday life, that going without a solution to this
problem will potentially lead to life threatening issues and the inability to use this water.

PROBLEM
The groundwater water problem in the Albuquerques South Valley area has existed since
1980 and the water quality has become increasingly hazardous over the years. Studies
from Scorecard the pollution information have shown the groundwater to contain a
number of carcinogens; Tetrachloroethane, Dichloromethane, Benzyl Butyl Phthalate,
and Trichloroethylene, as well as other toxins that are suspected to be the result of illegal
dumping of toxic waste and materials.

Student against pollution is not here to point fingers but to raise awareness and to conduct
research on the water to further a solution to the problem. Our number one goal is to
accommodate the people that are being affected by this problem. These toxins in the
water are very hazardous to the health of the community in the South Valley, something

must be done before too many people are exposed to this hazardous water and the
amounts being consumed become fatal. However, this does come with its challenges. We
are in no way capable of doing this on our own without the help from our local
government and EPA services

GRAPHICS ON WATER QUALITY

SOLUTION
We are proposing to request for funding to allow us to research and provide a sustainable
solution for the purification of this river water on a long-term basis. Our solution to this
problem will include, and is in no way limited to the research and testing of the river
water to find exactly what contaminants are in the river. We are going to figure out what
is going on with these chemicals and what is leading to the health problems of dozens of
citizens around the state. Once we have this information we are going to direct our focus
to lab work to come up with a sustainable idea to reduce and eventually try to eliminate
the pollution, at least down to a healthy level.

STEP 1:
The first step in our solution is to start working with the EPA and local government
agencies to set in place more strict rules and laws to keep the local community from
polluting the water more. The project of cleaning the water can take months, even years.
We hope to have at least more strict enforcement of the laws already in place by the time
our project comes to an end. That way if our project ever becomes increasingly difficult
to finish for whatever reason, the rules will be there for future use to keep the water
cleaner.

STEP 2:
The next step in our plan is to hire staff to collect water samples to be sent to a lab for
testing to see the extent of the pollution. The more than qualified individuals that have
joined the Students against pollution will be the first to help us out with this. We would
then ask for more qualified lab technicians to step in and further the research process to

make sure we have the most accurate readings possible. The staff would collect samples
from many different areas to find the extent of the pollutant and to determine what
treatments are needed to fix this problem. We expect this process to take about 6 months
due to the fact that some of the tests will take a while to get results.

STEP 3:
Our next step would be to locate contractors and start the submittal process of the
building of water treatment plants. This process should take up to about a year, each
contractor would be asked to bid on this project and then present to a panel of judges
their ideas for the treatment plant. On top of this we will need to purchase a land permit
and buy the property that we will need to place this treatment plane on.

STEP 4:
The next step would be to acquire the land and permits needed to build the water
treatment plant. As well as, finding architects willing to help us out with the most
efficient place and design for the treatment plant to be located. The time frame for this is
roughly 6 months for this step based on the regulations of New Mexicos land ordinate.

STEP 5:
Finally, the last step in our plan would be to offer assistance to people who are using
water out of private wells. This portion of the plan would offer residents on private water
usage the availability of water filtration systems. Or if they choose, funds to drill new
wells in severe cases where the filtration system would not solve the pollution problem.

This will help to settle the amount of people that are getting sick based off the water they
are drinking.

We strongly believe that our solution we have provided will provide benefits for not only
the citizens around the river, but generations to come. The US census reported that there
were about 9,000 septic tanks/cesspools in the south valley area that were releasing
around 1.4 million gallons of wastewater into the ground every day. At these rates, it is
only a matter of time before the people of this community become ill. With our solution
this is the number one thing that we are trying to avoid.

Qualifications
The water quality problem in Albuquerques south valley is continually proven to be a
concern for the population surrounding because it is a key resource to the necessities of
everyday life. A group of individuals that has gathered under one common interest has
one goal, and that is to fix the water quality. Senior leaders of this club that have joined
under one common interest to form this amazing group are Cassy McClintock, Dylan
Siracusan, and Woksapa Meding. They all have their Bachelor's in Engineering from the
University of New Mexico. Each has a different back ground, ranging from Computer
Science to Environmental to even Civil Engineering. Each bio of these recent graduates
changes a little based on the experience from classes that they have taken to projects that
they have worked on to real life experience. Individually they have outstanding
credentials but when they came together under one common goal, the possibilities of
what they can do to help are endless. They have put together a talented staff that ranges

from students, to other trained professionals all willing to help cure the South Valley of
the water pollution.

Timeline for Execution

*We cannot be responsible for cost overruns caused by clients failure to deliver materials by agreed-upon due dates.

Description

Start
Date

End
Date

Start water testing

1/2016 6/2016

6 months

Have plans drawn for water treatment plant

1/2016 12/2016

1 year

Collect all samples

7/2016 8/2016

1 month

Have all samples to lab for testing

9/2016 10/2016

1 month

Building permits and land for treatment plant

1/2017 6/2017

6 months

Start building water treatment plant

7/2017 12/2020

3 years

Retest water to insure all contaminates are gone

6/2020 12/2020

6 months

Working for stricter laws and rules to prevent pollution

1/2016 1/2020

4 years

Duration

Pricing
The following table details the pricing for delivery of the services outlined in this proposal.

Services Cost for water testing phase

Price

Water testing

$100,000.00

Staff to collect samples, manage and report results

$75,000.00

Services Cost water treatment plant phase

Building facility

Around $300,000,000.00

Staff to run the facility

Around $300,000.00 per year

Services Cost for retesting water

Water testing

$50,000.00

Staff to collect samples, manage and report results

$75,000.00

Total

$300,600,000.00

As put together in the charts above, we have carefully researched and talked to multiple
different companies and institutions willing to help us put together the most accurate
timeline for execution and costs. We have compared multiple different prices and picked
the most reliable and trustworthy companies to help us with this. We have rounded up to
the nearest whole dollar so the prices are all uniform.

Benefits
In addition to testing the water, we will be treating the water to remove contaminated
materials and toxins from said water. This will increase the overall health of the
Albuquerques South Valley, which in turn will reduce the number people getting sick in
the region. These pollutants are leading to the breakdown of internal organs and
eventually putting citizens in the hospital from long-term effects. This contaminated
water can leak into fields, contaminate and kill crops, as well as well as, being ingested
by wildlife in the region. With the treatment plant, we will be able to reduce and
eventually eliminate this problem from the region. Another benefit to the proposed idea
of water testing is we would be helping out the local communities economy by providing
jobs to those in need. We would start off by employing the students in the group and
branch out based on specific qualities that we need.
We look forward to working with the state of New Mexico in efforts of cleaning up and
restoring the river to its original state of healthy water quality. We want to thank you for
your time and for giving us the opportunity to present this proposal to you. Our goal is to

make the environment better for everyone to live in. If you have questions on this
proposal, feel free to contact any one member of our group at your convenience by email
at studentsagainstpollution@unm.edu or by phone at (505)-555-1324.
Thank you for your consideration,
The concerned students of The University of New Mexico; Cassy McClintock, Dylan
Siracusan,Woksapa Meding.

WORKS CITED
ABQ Water. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
"Baseline Risk Assessment of Ground Water Contamination at the Uranium Mill Tailings
Site near Shiprock, New Mexico. Revision 1." (1994): n. pag. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
"EPA." Technical Assistance for Communities. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
"Google." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
"SOUTH VALLEY." SOUTH VALLEY. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.