Weekly Advancements

Week 1-

Goals:

Get a team of like minded individuals with mutual interests to brainstorm a unique project for the term.

After coming together as a team of four, we bounced ideas around as to what we wanted to embark on in the next ten weeks of the quarter. Eventually, with much thought and a blend of different ideas, we decided to go with a water purification system that uses natural sunlight to kill microorganisms, that without such system, would make water not safe to drink.

Things to do: After coming up with the initial idea, we need to our research in the fields that embody our experiments and to see what other people have delved into on their own in order to ensure that our project is different from the rest. The literature that we must read is essential to not reproducing something that has been done before and is ensuring that we come up with something that is tangible in the end for use.

Week 2-

Goals: 

   To meet together a few times throughout the week to polish the blog, discuss topics that have been researched, and narrow our ideas to a more focused path needed to take, in order to get everything done in a timely fashion.

After coming together twice outside of class, we accomplished the goals above and enhanced upon what was already discussed. We ordered our Fecal Coliform Water Kits that will be used to test the contaminated water samples gathered. With this in place we considered our sources of light that we will be testing. In order to have something to comparer the solar uv light to, we determined that using the d'LUX light lab for their light sources to test in parallel to the solar light would be a good marker for how well the sunlight works versus a control group under preferred conditions.

Week 3-

Goals: 

Send our water filter cap CAD design to be 3D printed, purchase more materials, and update our gantt chart.

Cyrus drafted the design for the water cap filter to fit securely onto the water bottle opening.

Changes:

• Added more to the filter design
• Plan on filtering out heavy materials while decreasing turbidity
• This is all in addition to killing the bacteria 

Week 4-

Goals: 

• cutting the silk screen to fit the interior diameter of the 3d-printed prototype
• dissembling the zeolite cartridges
• 3-d printed bottle cap filter fits almost perfectly with only minimal leakage
• deciding to crush up which materials
• deciding to glue in screens or not
• pictures taken

The materials in which we ordered did not come the way we expected them to. Due to this, we had to send them back and wait for the next shipment to come. In our meeting's outside of class we discussed the possible impacts that this would cause on our gantt chart.  

           

Week 5:

Goals: 

Build the first prototype, blog maintenance, and begin testing.

In lab this week, each of us broke up into our individually assigned roles in order to accomplish as much as possible in the time allotted. Sloane and Kaya worked on the prototype, Cyrus sent more to be 3D printed as well as assisted in the design, and Tom updated the blog while continuing to give advice to the design of the project. Cyrus thought of a good way to reduce leaking by squeezing the bottle before putting the cap on creating a vacuum to pull water and the filter materials down closer to the bottom. Sloane and Kaya encountered how hard it is to glue in the bottom filter
its also to easy to knock the filter over while layering in materials and restart had to occur
crushing up the zeolite and the activated carbon into a finer powder for greater surface area
they sent the wrong water hardness testing in which it twice delayed the creation of the filter.

Current filter status: 3 parts carbon, 1 part sand, 1 part zeolite

•       cyrus redesigned the bottom holes to prevent leakage

Going into the following week we plan on correcting the leaks that the cap is experiencing during testing, add the background research to the blog, and collecting data to analyze.

Week 6:

Goals:

Retrieve new filter from design lab, update blog, plan days to experiment

After another week of rain, we had to delay our testing another week. The newly designed filter that was 3D printed ended up not retaining the water like expected. After trying to modify the filter to ensure that there was no loss of water when testing begins, we figured out what needed to be done in order to send the now modified filter to be printed for week 7 testing. We will be able to begin testing in week 7 once the new 3D printed apparatus will be available for use. 

Week 7:

Goals: 

Send the final prototype to be 3D printed and test

After having the first two prototypes with problems involving leaking and dimension issues, we resolved these problems with the final design. After picking it up from the shop, the filtered holes that were supposed to be cut out were not there. Cyrus and Tom decided to take it to the machine shop to drill holes that would make the prototype work without having to send an entire new design to be sent to be printed again. Below is the outcome of the final filter with the manually altered holes that have been drilled by hand.





Week 8:

Goals:

Begin testing with newly designed 3D Filter

With the newly designed filter, the leaking that took place in the previous weeks has been nullified. With this issue taken care of, testing can now begin once there is a day without raining. Besides the testing that will begin, during the rest of the week the blog will be revised, timeline updated, and the engineering design group will get together to coordinate the following weeks activities. 

Part of the testing kit

Week 9:

Goals: 
Incorporate reflection foil given to us to aid in directing the sunlight towards the water bottle while being tested.

Before filtration

After filtration

Water bottle in testing phase

With testing set to occur, the set up involved including the reflection foil, filtration layers installed, and the pre-testing of the water complete, the water bottles have been placed in an area in which maximum sunlight will be concentrated on the water bottle. 

Week 10:

Goals:
Testing the Schuylkill River water for the presence of bacteria, finalizing the report and creating a power point for the final presentation. 

Figure 1) Decreased Turbidity 

Figure 2) Water being filtered 

Figure 3) Testing Probe 

                     

Figure 4) Testing in Progress

Figure 5) Hardness Testing Result

Figure 5) Three 3D Printed Prototypes