Gantt Chart
we made a gantt chart to better divide our responsibilities and manage our time.
Team Responsibilities |
Design Brief |
Brainstorm
- different variations of materials such as sponge, cotton, mesh, foam, and activated charcoal.
- some sort of funnel to direct the water
Research and Generate Ideas
existing solutions
- SteriPEN: a handheld water filter pen that uses UV light to kill infectious microbes like bacteria, viruses, and protozoans to prevent water borne illnesses. PROS: small, easy to use, reportedly effective. CONS: expensive, doesn't seem capable of removing large particles or improving the turbidity. https://www.steripen.com/glossary/
- Platypus GravityWorks: a gravity based filter in which water runs through a hollow fiber filter tube from one bag to another and keep out most particles. PROS: very fast, can work as a storage unit, requires little maintenance due to lack of electronic and moving parts. CONS: does not filter out viral particles, expensive. http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Backpacking-Water-Filter-Reviews/Platypus-GravityWorks
- SAWYER MINI Water Filtration System: a small lightweight incline based filter weighing only 2 ounces. Uses a hollow tube fiber and includes a drinking straw as well as a collecting bag. PROS: small, cheap, versatile and able to use in many ways, filters up to 100,000 gallons. CONS: can't store large volumes of water, can't filter out viral particles.
Possibilities
we test ran a few materials and collected the run off water into a vile and recorded the turbidity.
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Decision Matrix
Our main deciding factor was turbidity so we chose to use mainly cotton and coffee filters.
Protoype & Test
Refine
To improve the turbidity reading we created a new filter with fresh components and added cotton rounds and more coffee filters. This resulted in a turbidity reading of 48.8, safe to drink.
one thing that we found was that by increasing the quantity of the material, it improves the quality of the filter. |
Conclusion
This project was a good way to start the semester off and re-familiarize ourselves with the design process. In regards to the actual project, I discovered that coffee filters and cotton work very well but would not work very when used repetitively. Next year we shouldn't let coffee filters be an option. Me and Holly worked pretty well together but I was stressed for most of the project mainly because I had missed the second day of school and felt somewhat left behind and overwhelmed. Next time I would've tried to better manage my time to get things done in a more timely manner. It was nice having time to test each of the materials and get an idea of what materials work well.
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