Water Sanitation Experiment, Research Proposal Example

Introduction

The proposed experiment is designed pertaining to sanitation, particularly water sanitation.  The experiment has two components.  The first will be the design of an effective cost avoidant septic system that can be constructed quickly from accessible materials.  The second will be the design of the pipe that flows from the septic system in order to recycle the water.  In the first component of the laboratory experiment, the most substantial element of the septic system will be designed.  The system that will be designed is applied in order to ascertain the absorption index of soil samples which is the test regarding percolation.  The independent variables are the amount of water going into the system.  The dependent variable is the amount of water going out of the systems (Holden, 2013; Kostic, 2001; Lim, 2010 and McDonough, 2009).

Background

The creation of a soil based septic system is not a novel concept.  The soil samples that have been conventionally applied in this type of experiment are the following:

1. Soils with an enhanced rate of percolation that have greater water absorption capacity.
2. Water migrates through soils at an increased index as an attribute of the enlarged pore dimensions of the soil samples.
3. Soil samples that have a loamy quality have increased capacity of water retention is attributed to the combination of clay, silt and sand (Holden, 2013; Kostic, 2001; Lim, 2010 and McDonough, 2009).

Fig.  1:  Design of water sanitation systems (Holden, 2013).

Procedure and Materials

The procedure proposed by Holden (2013) and Lim (2010) will be enhanced by means of the addition of more elaborate plumbing.  The plumbing will enable the water filtration system to function more effectively using the sand clay and gravel suspended by a wire mesh net.  The proposed system would have modified plumbing as demonstrated in Fig.  2.

Figure 2: Design of water sanitation systems (Lim, 2010)

Materials

1. Transparent plastic bucket (round) – 20 cm across, 35 cm high
2. Regular plastic bucket
3. Wire mesh (1 mm x 1 mm) – preferably 35 cm long
4. Sandy soil sample – 5 L
5. Clayey soil sample – 5 L
6. Loamy soil sample – 5 L
7. Gravels – 2 L x 3, two liters per soil sample
8. Water supply – 9 liters/ 3
9. 2 Chronometers
10. One Ruler – 30 cm long.

11, 10 L bucket

12. Transparent plastic tubes of 7 mm.
13. Fittings and connections
14. 600 ml beaker
15. 20 mm Ball valve
16. Pipe fittings
17. Clamps
18. Stopwatch
19. Wooden block
20. Results

The results that will be evaluated in the first party of the experiment are the qualities of the percolation of the percolation of the dirty water.  This will be performed by

Absorption index = Distance / time interval,

Percolation index = Time/ Distance.

This is for the first component of the examination.  The second component of the examination would be the construction of the plumbing shown in Fig.5.  The water that flows through a circular pipe is demonstrated by its speed of discharge delineated by V.  The diameter of the circular pipe is defined by D, the viscosity that has a kinematic quality is demonstrated by v and the resistance of the materials of the circular piping walls are demonstrated by e.  The differences in the height of the liquid in the bucket is shown by z and the head loss is demonstrated by hL (Holden, 2013; Kostic, 2001; Lim, 2010 and McDonough, 2009).   The qualities of liquid flow indexes are administrated by these equations.  The equation proposed by Daniel Bernoulli which had been derived from conservation of mass will be applied

P₁(?g)^’1 + (v_i)²(2g)^-1 + Z₁ = P₂ (?g)^-1 + (v₃) (2g)^-1 + z₃ + hL

The head loss would be calculated by the application of the Darby- Welsbach mathematical relationship:

h_L = fLD^-1v(2g)^-1

Discussion

The experiment that is proposed would vary from the previous designs demonstrated by Holden, (2013) and Lim (2010) by having the quality of the water not requiring that the amount of water in the bucket level be maintained constant.  The level of water may be varied as long as the amount of water that is coming out is equivalent to the amount of dirty water going into the system above the filtration point.

References

Holden, P. (2013). Proposal #122. Bucket biosand filter enhanced with slow release silver impregnated ceramic debris. An innovative point of use with filtration and disinfection system for Malawi and beyond. University of Southern California at Santa Barbara.

Kostic, M. (2001). Lab: Experimental verification of Bernoulli equation. Northern Illinois University.

Lim, W. (2010). Designing fluid mechanics laboratory experiments for universities in East Timor. The University of Western Australia.

McDonough, J. M. (2009). Lectures in elementary fluid dynamics: Physics, mathematics and applications. University of Kentucky.