Carrie Smith's Individual Contribution Page
Fall Semester Contributions
This fall, I and my teammate Jenny Guan continued work on foam filter for deployment in Spring 2013. This device is intended for small communities such as a school.
This semester we attempted to complete the following tasks.
1. Add a chemical dose controller for coagulant and chlorine to the filtration system.
- We were able to add a CDC for the coagulant and chlorine to the filtration system. We calibrated them with clean water, so a future team will need to re-calibrate with the correct fluids in case there is a difference in the viscosities of coagulant and chlorine.
2. Communicate with Agua Para el Pueblo about the best method to deploy the technology.
- We did not communicate with Agua Para el Pueblo as we struggled to create a completed filter device for deployment within the allotted time span.
3. Find an operator friendly way of determining breakthrough
- We were able to develop a Secchi Disk that can be used by an operator at a fairly high turbidity. It should still be calibrated by a future team to establish the best location to place the Secchi Disk and at what turbidity the disk disappears.
4. Find a way to run the filter without electricity.
- We were able elevate the tank to an appropriate level to allow the system to operate without electricity.
5. Create a user manual in Spanish
- We created an illustrated user manual in Spanish for operators.
We recommend that a future team investigate the following:
- Re-calibrate CDCs with the corresponding fluids to reflect the differing viscocities.
- Find the appropriate Secchi depth at which the Secchi Disk disappears.