Evaluation and Design of a Decentralized Alternative to Conventional Wastewater Infrastructure in Cuba

CONVENTIONAL WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE IN CUBA Team Gators DALE! University of Florida Introduction Water is essential to all known forms of life. It is fundamental as a solvent for all the major components of cells, is essential to many metabolic processes, and is required for photosynthesis and respiration. The importance of water however, is often overlooked. As Rachel Carson wrote in her 1962 work, Silent Spring, “In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference.” Water thus, the solvent of proteins and DNA in our bodies, also functions as the modern day solution to domestic waste, serving as solvent and transporter to such wastes.