Okay, so last week I wasn't able to post anything because I wasn't at school all week. But I will write about what we did today because we did a lot today! We were finishing up our prezi for our presentation. Our prezi looks finished with pictures, videos, and facts, yet it still feels incomplete. I am worried that between our prezi and our speaking that our audience will not fully understand what we are trying to say. Hopefully that will change because on Thursday we will get to practice with the elementary kids during a show case. The show case will happen outside so we will not be able to use our prezi. This allows us to work on our speaking skills for this project. I am excited that our project will end in a successful way.
Our topic of lack of clean water in Africa is slowly being solved. Sadly, we still are not sure if our system works. Every time we try to test to see, it will rain. Although, I guess that is what happens in nature. Also while I was gone, my other group members decided to tear off the plastic that we had put on there and replace it with new plastic. I love that they did this because of all the holes that were in the other plastic cover and how loose the plastic was. The covering didn't seem like it was helping at all but now I think that this filter might have a chance to work. Hopefully with this fixed we will get some results before the end of the school year is over.
Like I said the school year is coming to an end. Sadly, we won't be able to work on this project anymore. I would be so happy to see this filtration system filter water. Right now all the water that is being condensed is going to the bottom. We are thinking that if we tip the filter foward then the water will gather. Everybody really only has about until Friday to finish up their final exam presentations because of the show case on Thursday. I think that we are just about done with everything except we probably have to tweak (is that a real word?) a few things. Fingers crossed that everything goes well within the next couple of days! See ya!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wow, I can't believe that the school year is almost over. We have done so much over the past six weeks. I can't believe how far we have got and how much we have learned. Even starting from a simple diagram our group has made it come to life in such a short amount of time. This project has been difficult and frustrating at times, but it helps me increase my teamwork skills. I am happy that we are trying to help people in need by doing this. Even if our filtration system does not work I know that our project will give some other people ideas on how to improve it. These are just some good things from this spring project.
On the other hand, this has been a tough week for us. We have had many problems with our filter. After getting the plastic on the frame on Tuesday, we poured the water in and came back the next day. What my group found was frustrating. Some of the water had evaporated, or at least we thought it did. Although, because we didn’t cover the bottom of the filter with plastic, we had at least three problems. First, the water that might have evaporated was falling through the bottom. And because the bottom wasn’t covered, the filter could not get humid enough inside so that the water would evaporate. Lastly, the black bucket that was in the filter had a crack in the bottom; therefore, the water was leaking out of it.
Thankfully, Mr.Verkaik had an extra bucket that was the same as ours. Again, we had troubles getting the bucket with the crack in it out of the filter. We had sized the frame just right so that the bucket would be caught at the sides of the frame. Also, since none of the water evaporated the day before, the only way to get the bucket out was to tip the bucket on its side so the water would spill too. After replacing the two buckets, we have to fix the problem of the open bottom. So we set the frame on its side and covered and stapled a sheet of plastic. Since we had such a difficult time getting the bucket out of the filter, I had come up with the idea of creating a flap in the plastic so we could get into the inside if we needed to. Although, my idea didn't work out so well because while we could get in, the humidity could also get out. That was basically the whole point of the filter, is that inside the filter it would get humid and the water would heat up and evaporate, but when the humidity gets out the water no longer can evaporate. Because of that, we tried to duct tape the pieces of plastic back together but sadly duct tape can't do everything. So we just put a new piece of plastic over the side. Hopefully, now we will get some inprovements by Monday. That is all we did this week and until then I say see you later!
On the other hand, this has been a tough week for us. We have had many problems with our filter. After getting the plastic on the frame on Tuesday, we poured the water in and came back the next day. What my group found was frustrating. Some of the water had evaporated, or at least we thought it did. Although, because we didn’t cover the bottom of the filter with plastic, we had at least three problems. First, the water that might have evaporated was falling through the bottom. And because the bottom wasn’t covered, the filter could not get humid enough inside so that the water would evaporate. Lastly, the black bucket that was in the filter had a crack in the bottom; therefore, the water was leaking out of it.
Thankfully, Mr.Verkaik had an extra bucket that was the same as ours. Again, we had troubles getting the bucket with the crack in it out of the filter. We had sized the frame just right so that the bucket would be caught at the sides of the frame. Also, since none of the water evaporated the day before, the only way to get the bucket out was to tip the bucket on its side so the water would spill too. After replacing the two buckets, we have to fix the problem of the open bottom. So we set the frame on its side and covered and stapled a sheet of plastic. Since we had such a difficult time getting the bucket out of the filter, I had come up with the idea of creating a flap in the plastic so we could get into the inside if we needed to. Although, my idea didn't work out so well because while we could get in, the humidity could also get out. That was basically the whole point of the filter, is that inside the filter it would get humid and the water would heat up and evaporate, but when the humidity gets out the water no longer can evaporate. Because of that, we tried to duct tape the pieces of plastic back together but sadly duct tape can't do everything. So we just put a new piece of plastic over the side. Hopefully, now we will get some inprovements by Monday. That is all we did this week and until then I say see you later!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
This week we are still finishing our filter. It seems that we might be able to finish on Monday or Tuesday. We have been working really hard even though one of our members cannot work with us. We got our cinder blocks on Tuesday and the whole project is turning out amazing! To hold the bucket that will be inside the filter, we screwed in three 2x2's to support the bucket when it is full of water. We also decided that we did not need an overfill pipe because it would be even more difficult to install into the bucket. We also have another bucket at the end of the filter. Since it is raised by the cinder blocks the bucket is able to go directly under the filter. Here's a picture of our revised solar still:
Now, we also needed to get the PVC pipe down into the black bucket. At first we didn't know what to do so we brainstormed. We thought we might be able to drill a hole the size of the PVC pipe (one and a half inch), but learned that we couldn't drill a hole that was the right size. The hole was either too large or too small. So we tried measuring the diameter of the PVC pipe (which was one and seven eighths of an inch) and measured the same length on a 2x4 piece of wood. Using those measurements we drew a square in the corner of the wood. We then cut out the square using a saw. Finally we screwed the 2x4 to the top of the filter so it could hold the PVC pipe. Here's a picture:
So you might be wondering why we are doing this. It is because children in Africa die everyday from water borne diseases. By creating this filter, it will help families in Africa clean dirty water that they need to drink, cook with, bathe in, and grow crops with. This does not only provide drinking water for the people but it also helps with malnutrition by being able to cook food and grow fruits and vegetables and with sanitization by allowing them to bathe. This will hopefully decrease the amount of deaths due to water related diseases. Our goal is to allow access to clean water in Africa for children and families. We focus on Africa because that country is the most in need of help right now. We hope that you want to help people too by doing something that could change the world.
Now, we also needed to get the PVC pipe down into the black bucket. At first we didn't know what to do so we brainstormed. We thought we might be able to drill a hole the size of the PVC pipe (one and a half inch), but learned that we couldn't drill a hole that was the right size. The hole was either too large or too small. So we tried measuring the diameter of the PVC pipe (which was one and seven eighths of an inch) and measured the same length on a 2x4 piece of wood. Using those measurements we drew a square in the corner of the wood. We then cut out the square using a saw. Finally we screwed the 2x4 to the top of the filter so it could hold the PVC pipe. Here's a picture:
So you might be wondering why we are doing this. It is because children in Africa die everyday from water borne diseases. By creating this filter, it will help families in Africa clean dirty water that they need to drink, cook with, bathe in, and grow crops with. This does not only provide drinking water for the people but it also helps with malnutrition by being able to cook food and grow fruits and vegetables and with sanitization by allowing them to bathe. This will hopefully decrease the amount of deaths due to water related diseases. Our goal is to allow access to clean water in Africa for children and families. We focus on Africa because that country is the most in need of help right now. We hope that you want to help people too by doing something that could change the world.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
On Tuesday, we finished the frame of our solar still. It was very difficult for us to find the appropriate angle to connect the hypotenuse to the bottom. It took us many tries to get the angle correct but we finally got it to fit. We also tried making the stands for the frame but found out that wood will not support the bucket and frame when there is water in it. Therefore, we decided to use cinder blocks instead of wood. Although we still don't have the cinder blocks so we will have to wait to lift the frame off the ground.
We also have a piece of plywood that we are going to use as the bottom to hold the buckets in place. There is also another piece of plywood that is screwed underneath the hypotenuse so it can take the clean water down to the bucket at the end of the filter. We had planned to cover the piece of plywood with plastic so the wood wouldn't rot or mold but we realized that there were small holes in the plastic so water could get through. Therefore, we had to cover it again with a piece of tarp to ensure that water would not leak through. We tested the tarp by spraying water on it and it seemed waterproof. So we used a staple gun to staple the tarp onto the board. Finally, we used screws to connect the plywood to the hypotenuse of the frame.
To test to see if the plywood would bring the water down the the end, we poured water at the top. The water slid down easily and exited through the space between the plywood and the 2x2 at the end. When our bucket will be put at the end, the water will flow into it and be usable. The sides of the frame seem to keep the water in so we won't lose any water. I feel that this solar still will work and filter water. My group has gone a long way and i hope that we will succeed in creating a filter that can help Africa.
Note: This picture was before we wrapped the plywood in tarp and screwed it to the hypotenuse.
We also have a piece of plywood that we are going to use as the bottom to hold the buckets in place. There is also another piece of plywood that is screwed underneath the hypotenuse so it can take the clean water down to the bucket at the end of the filter. We had planned to cover the piece of plywood with plastic so the wood wouldn't rot or mold but we realized that there were small holes in the plastic so water could get through. Therefore, we had to cover it again with a piece of tarp to ensure that water would not leak through. We tested the tarp by spraying water on it and it seemed waterproof. So we used a staple gun to staple the tarp onto the board. Finally, we used screws to connect the plywood to the hypotenuse of the frame.
To test to see if the plywood would bring the water down the the end, we poured water at the top. The water slid down easily and exited through the space between the plywood and the 2x2 at the end. When our bucket will be put at the end, the water will flow into it and be usable. The sides of the frame seem to keep the water in so we won't lose any water. I feel that this solar still will work and filter water. My group has gone a long way and i hope that we will succeed in creating a filter that can help Africa.
Note: This picture was before we wrapped the plywood in tarp and screwed it to the hypotenuse.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Today, we finally started building the frame of our solar still. We started with measuring the length and width of a bucket that we planned on using for our first solar still. Then we had cut long 2x2 pieces of wood for the frame. We didn't know how to connect the pieces together, so we tried using nails and a hammer. After getting the nail about three quarters a way through the wood, it had started to split and crack. So backing up and taking another path, my group and I drilled holes about half way through the wood. Afterwards, we held the pieces together and drilled a 4 inch screw into the hole that was on the side of one of the shorter 2x2's, through to the top of a longer piece. Screwing together four pieces of wood, we now had a rectangle that would be the side of the solar still.
Now we had to create the bottom of the filter. We laid two pieces of the same 2x2 wood that we used before (these will be longer than before, but equal length to each other) and set them on the ground so that they were parallel to each other. Holes were drilled in these too so we could connect them to the rectangle that we had just made. Then, we set the rectangle on the parallel pieces of wood and flipped it on its side so we could drill in the screw to keep it together. Lastly, a piece was screwed to the end of the bottom boards to create a right triangle. With the right triangle assembled, we had to figure out the length of the hypotenuse so the wood could be cut. Although, the ends of the hypotenuse side would have to be cut at a diagonal. We found the angle of one of the ends to be 25 degrees, but was not able to find the degree measurement of the other end. This was all that we had gotten done today, but we will be working more on Monday. I am excited as to how this filter will turn out.
P.S. Pictures of our frame and measurements of the pieces of wood are to come!
Now we had to create the bottom of the filter. We laid two pieces of the same 2x2 wood that we used before (these will be longer than before, but equal length to each other) and set them on the ground so that they were parallel to each other. Holes were drilled in these too so we could connect them to the rectangle that we had just made. Then, we set the rectangle on the parallel pieces of wood and flipped it on its side so we could drill in the screw to keep it together. Lastly, a piece was screwed to the end of the bottom boards to create a right triangle. With the right triangle assembled, we had to figure out the length of the hypotenuse so the wood could be cut. Although, the ends of the hypotenuse side would have to be cut at a diagonal. We found the angle of one of the ends to be 25 degrees, but was not able to find the degree measurement of the other end. This was all that we had gotten done today, but we will be working more on Monday. I am excited as to how this filter will turn out.
P.S. Pictures of our frame and measurements of the pieces of wood are to come!
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