Holmdel High Student Creates Electricity From Sewage

HOLMDEL, NJ — Electricity from sewage? This Holmdel High School senior thinks it's possible, and she's been invited to present her research on it at the prestigious American Junior Academy of Science Conference (AJAS) in Austin, TX Feb. 14.

Erica Wu originally began her project in her junior year as part of her work in Holmdel's Honors Advanced Research (HAR) class. Her project, titled "Sewer Electricity: A Microbial Fuel Cell Powered by Sludge," focused on generating electricity from sewage sludge.

The sewage was generously donated by the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority.

How does it work? When sewage is treated and breaks down, anaerobic digestion gives off a high grade of methane – also known as sewage gas. While it may seem hard to believe, scientists have been trying to turn that methane gas into electricity for decades now. In 2016, a city in Denmark became the first in the world to provide most of its citizens with fresh water using energy created from household sewage.

“Erica was able to generate sustained voltage from, let’s say, 'sewage,' to use a kind word. It was rather smelly and entailed a lot of hard work, but she was successful," explained her Holmdel High science teacher Dr. Josephine Blaha, who supervised and guided Erica on the the project. "Most impressive was that this project was done completely in-house, and independently, with no outside help, except for the sludge provided by the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority.”

After she performed her experiment in class, Erica then presented her work at the New Jersey Academy of Sciences symposium at Kean University, where she won first place in the Environmental Science division. Her outstanding showing there resulted in her invitation to be one of the New Jersey delegates to the AJAS conference in Austin, TX, which will take place from February 14-18.

Along with the presentation of her project, Erica will also tour the University of Texas facilities and have a Breakfast with Scientists. She will attend a lecture given by Dr. Ellen Ochoa, a veteran astronaut and the 11th Director of the Johnson Space Center. Way to make Holmdel proud, Erica!