December 2017 - End of the Year

  December has came. We are at the end of 2017 and the new year is just around the corner.  The third quarter in Nagasaki University has ended and the fourth one has already began. The weather is cold as usual, but we are used to it now, I guess. Last week, we joined the observation trip to Mamizu Pia and Yamanota Purification Treatment Plant. There are so many things I could learn from there, especially about their modern technologies, which is far more advance than in my country. In Mamizupia, they use ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis technologies to desalinate seawater in order to get the fresh one while Yamanota plant uses ceramic membranes. Both systems are very well organized and operated. The plant staff invited us to try the treated water and half of us could not distinguish it from the tap water. It is demonstrated how far Japan has gone in terms of wastewater treatment. I am looking forward to learning from them. ^_^

The air drying bed for making sludge cakes

The RO system in Mamizu Pia

The ceramic membrane system in Yamanota Purification Plant

The pre-treatment system in Yamanota Purification Plant

Picture before leaving

Autumn in Japan

      Autumn (“Aki”) in Japan usually begins in early September, and it’s also the time when the storms hit in Japan. The weather at the time is similar to the rainy season due to usually having autumn rains; however, everything will get better in mid-October as the winter winds blow. The man supposed that autumn in Japan is the happy period to relax and enjoy nature pleasantly, and it will last from September to November when maple trees convert the color leaf from green to red or yellow. There are some festivals and interesting activities to visit and enjoy during this time of year such as Akimatsuri (Autumn festival), Kouyou (Red leaf season), and the amazing natural scenery.

The maple trees at Nagasaki University

-Le Phat_09/12/2017

November feelings

November month was so rich for me as a new student. I did several lectures including experiments and study trip. For the experiment the waste water treatment was the big part with Itayama sensei. In my country I have already do the theory of many concepts but it’s here where I begin to practice theses theories. As far am concerned its was ever a good thing to practice more than theorizing. Thus, with Tada sensei my classmates and I went to Isahaya bay for a field observation. So, with the water quality sensor we did many measurements for some physical parameters to assimilate the lecture. Indeed, it was a good experience for me to visit the area as a scientist student who want to perform his skill about water. Thereby during this trip, I learned many things by Tada sensei and his two students. They really help us to use the water quality sensor, which was a nice thing. So, after taking our measurements we enjoyed the ecosystem around us with the fisherman boat. So, when it was time to go back home the fisher man offered as lot of fruits. One the way back I exchanged with the Japanese student of Tada and he taught me some kind words in Nihon. Some days after this trip, I participated in the Nagasaki bus tour organized four the international students. Indeed, during the opening speech, we listened to an atomic bomb survivor. Her history was so sad, mostly when she told that she lost almost all her family members during this catastrophic attack I had tears in my eyes. Although after this speech we went to the peace park and took lunch there. We also went to the atomic bomb and the history museum. I remember that we watched an amazing theater piece. Thereby a big festival was organized in the university. This festival was so amazing, dancing group, pop concert and lot of food variety. Finally, November month was good for me, think that December will be better.

Field observation in Isahaya Bay

During BOD experiment in Itayama Sensei's lab

Nagasaki history museum 

Author: Cassidy 

Tokyo - My first trip in Japan - 11/2017

In November, I went to Tokyo for training class. This is the first time I’ve gone to a large city such as Tokyo. My trip there was like discovering a new way of life that I had only heard previously.

I had always wanted to come Tokyo and I recently had the chance to spend two days in this amazing city. I flew into Haneda Airport. After that, I took the Tokyo Monorail from Haneda Airport to reach Sakura-kan. It took about 2 hours from Haneda Airport to go there. The monorail was a great way to get around Tokyo - avoid the slow road traffic and appeared as the lowest cost option. You need to change trains but still convenient. Train was comfortable and clean. It was fully automatic and controlled by computer. This is the first time I went by Monorail so purchasing a ticket was not simple for me. Therefore, Sensei helped me to do it. There are ticketing machines in every station. You need to know your destination station. The fare is based on the distance traveled and you will see how much you must pay for the trip.

At your destination station, repeat the process. Put the ticket into the turnstile as you exit. If there’s still value on the ticket, it’ll re-appear. If not, the turnstile will keep it. If you lose your ticket, you can not go through. In the first station, I didn’t know the ticket would re-appear in the turnstile and did not take it. Therefore, I could not go through the next station and I had to ask transit employee to help me out and buy the ticket again^^^

After going to Sakura-kan, I joined in the training class about how to use the machine for counting bacteria. They were very enthusiastic and showed me in detail. In the evening, I didn’t know how to get my accommodation so they took me to go there.

On second day in Tokyo, I went to Haneda Airport by bus. In Haneda Airport, I had free time to visit many shopping stores and bought a souvenir for my friends. I already took a lot of photos because I like taking photos with the airplane. It reminds me about my dream that I’d always wanted since I was a young child: become a flight attendance. However, I can not make my dream come true because I am short^^^

Came back Nagasaki in the evening and finished my first trip in Japan. There were so many experiences and unforgettable memories. In the future, I hope I will have chances to visit many places in Japan. See you again Tokyo!

                                                                  Autumn leaves in Tokyo

                                                                    The campus of Sakura-kan 

                                                                         View from the bus

A Sunday to discover

Sunday, Nov 12^th, 2017, another memorable day was marked in my diary in Japan.  We, Vietnamese friends, old and new students, had a trip to a beautiful place: “Aguri no oka” (あぐりの丘).

At first, we only planned to go there to visit a second-hand market, which is hosted on the second Sunday of every month, but what we discovered later made it a worthy trip. As soon as we got there, we were amazed not only by the lively crowded market, but also by the peaceful feeling being surrounded by beautiful landscape. The market is filled with plenty of clothes, jackets, footwear, tableware, books, toys, souvenirs and lots of more. You can find good stuffs with cheap price here.

The second hand market at the parking area, crowded, busy with people buying, selling... 

The place is not only used as a place to gather a flea market sometimes of the year. Actually, Aguri no oka is an agriculture park which occupies about 50 hectares, located on a hill in the northwest of Nagasaki. The park has a few different areas where you can experience garden harvesting, feeding cattle, or just simply enjoy the fantastic view while eating excellent piece of ice-cream!

Some of the scenery photo captured that day...

The flower garden

The house of rose

And my favorite one...

The trip is a good chance for us to get to know each other better, and to share our experiences about student life. In the breeze of the cool autumn wind, we can feel a long way ahead leading to a bright future.

Trips in November

"Cold". The weather is so cold in November, I heard that the temperature is going to be even lower then. We are around the end of the third quarter. Exercises and reports began to pile up T_T. This month, we had two memorable trips: a trip to Isahaya Bay and a tour around Nagasaki City. Isahaya Bay is truly beautiful. The water here is clear and the coastal line is much cleaner than my hometown’s, which is also a coastal city . We were guided by the university to visit the Japanese History Museum and the Atomic Bomb Museum. I heard a witness who survived the disaster that happened tell her own story. It is so sad and pitiful for those who have gone through it. We also saw a lot of interesting things about the life of Japanese people in ancient feudal time. The Japanese tradition and culture are well observed, conserved and is practiced every day. Japanese people truly preserve their culture more than anything else. Those trips left me many unforgettable memories...

Isahaya Bay #1

Isahaya Bay #2

Atomic Bomb Model

Remained after the disaster

Dragon Vase? Treasure???

Ancient Decoration Dishes?

Ancient House in Japan

International Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse, Long Beach California, July 23-27,2017.

IWA REUSE 2017 brought together water managers, industry leaders, and cutting-edge researchers to learn current trends and what’s next in water reuse policy and regulations, technology, operations, and public. The program focused on four core topic areas: Water Reuse Management, Water Reuse Applications, Water Reuse Sustainability, and Innovations in Water Reuse Technologies.

Water professionals shared field experience, 400 abstracts, and a sense that water reclamation and reuse was going mainstream, due to the twin forces of regulatory ‘push’ and market ‘pull’.

A number of presentations on successful research of water reuse were made. The successful findings will help to ameliorate  the emerging water scarcity problems of the world.  For example, a presentation made by Michael McMennis, revealed that a 300MW California power plant he designed had to reuse 87 percent of its wastewater for cooling. Yet industries are investing in reuse to secure reliability. The Metropolitan Water District’s General Manager Jeff Kightlinger discussed his city’s plan to build America’s largest advanced purification plant, to reuse over 567,000 m3/day. This was very amazing.

Singapore has moved a step ahead in pioneering and marketing of (recycled) NEWater to augment on the high demand for portable water. Such milestones suggested the larger world is at last recognising the inherent but neglected value of wastewater, defined by George Tchobanoglous as “a renewable, recoverable source of drinking water, resources, and energy.”

Beyond recent technology advances, timely discussions focused on the role of and demand for water reuse in mitigating climate change impacts, or applied to water and food, urban and industrial use. There is growing application of water reclamation and reuse as key elements of integrated water resource management.

However, despite all the innovations, there is need for further research and discussion on the importance of source control and the impact that the type and performance of the wastewater treatment plant has on the downstream advanced water treatment plant.” This could be a feasible research area for future students in the Water and Environmental Engineering Laboratory.

I therefore wish to encourage all students to actively engage in water treatment research because it is the for tomorrow.

Katalo Ronald