Cal Enviro

We will be posting frequently asked questions (FAQs) here as they arrive!

Hello all!  My name is Nate Butler and I will be answering all your competition questions.  As should be expected, I am not part of any design team and will only communicate through direct emails or this page.   If you have any questions at all feel free to email me (my email is at the end of the 2009 competition rules - see competition tab at right) and I’ll get an answer to you ASAP and post the details here.  Good luck everyone!  I look forward to seeing the designs.

Contaminant Questions

Q:  Can you define “soil”  — is it soil straight from the ground, nutrient rich potting soil you get at ACE? etc.

A:    While it would standardize the competition some to use nutrient rich potting soil like you could buy at ACE, the scenario is for the Bay Area so Bay Area soil will be used.  The soil in the Bay Area is hugely variable from one location to another so I don’t feel any team will be at a disadvantage by using their local soils.  Also FYI, in the interest of fairness, no one but I will know exactly where in the Bay Area the soil will be dug from ahead of the competition so no team will be privy to more information than others.

Also note, the chicken wire will be buried in patches of the same soil for one week.

Q:  Is “Lemon juice” as in “lemonade” lemon juice or “freshly squeezed lemon juice”?

A:   Lemon juice refers to Santa Cruz brand, Organic Lemon juice.

Q:  “What types of leaves are going to be used?”

A:  The leaves used will be a random assortment of leaves gathered from the Bay Area.  They will be a mix of dried/dead and green leaves.  I anticipate there will be oak, California buckeye, bay, and several other types.  There is no prescribed formula for proportions of each type.  Leaves will be gathered in a garbage bag from places around the Bay, then hand-fulls will be weighed out.

Q: ” Can we interact with the system within the first 10 minutes while the water is being poured without a 10 point deduction?”

A:  Teams will be allowed to interact with the system during the first 10 minutes while the water is being poured without taking a 10 point deduction provided the interaction is not “required for function.”  For example, if you need to make any last minute adjustments as the water is being poured, you can without a point deduction.  All the systems being built should be able to function completely on their own though.  The intent is that these systems will be installed at pipe breaks and then left alone to treat the water.  Any adjustments which could be considered reasonable upon installation of the systems at a pipe break will be allowed without the 10 point deduction.  It will be up to the judges to define what is “reasonable.”

In short, no 10 point deduction will be taken for any interaction with the system during the 10 minute water loading period, unless the judges deem the interaction to be “unreasonable.”  (An example of an unreasonable interaction would be pouring the first 2 liters through a quick treatment, then physically adjusting the system so the rest of the water goes through a slower treatment process.)

Q:  Do they [the environmental competition teams from the different schools] need to submit a report in advance similar to the canoe competition, or do they just need to have a presentation ready on the day of the event?

A:  There is nothing you need to submit before the competition (besides the registration stuff for Midpac itself).  Your team’s presentation will need to be loaded onto a PC formatted laptop or desktop (whichever Reno provides) Saturday before the presentations start at 2pm.  We’ll let you know that day, when we go around and ask for the presentations.  Flash drives are the preferred way to load the presentations onto the main laptop.  (And though I’m sure you already know this, I’ll just remind that you should assume the main laptop will have ONLY standard fonts.)

Q:  Will the ground beef be cooked?

A:  The ground beef will be raw.

Q:  If cooked will all the grease let off by the ground beef be deposited into the water?

A:  It will be raw and will not be rinsed.

Q: What percent of the ground beef will be fat?

A:  It will be 80/20 ground beef like you would find at Safeway.

Q: What flavor of Jell-O will be used?

A:  The Jell-O will be Berry Blue and/or Lemon flavour.  (Ideally, one packet will be Berry Blue and one packet will be Lemon.  In the event not enough Berry Blue can be found, both packets will be Lemon.  Each packet of Jell-O will be pre-made in an individual bowl before the water is mixed and the congealed Jell-O will be dumped into the water and mixed with the other constituents.)

Q: Will the Lemon juice have  pulp?

A:  The lemon juice will be Santa Cruz brand, Organic Lemon juice.  (Which has little to no pulp.)  The bottle will be well-shaken before any juice is added to the water so if anything settles to the bottom of the bottle, it will be remixed into the juice.

Q:  VCR?

A:  There will not be a VCR available at UNR, but I doubt this will be an issue for anyone.  Sorry.  No old school media presentations this year.