PPFS: Chapter 1: Title and Background

Project Proposal Feasibility Study

Team17 - NicarAGUA

Seth Koetje - Hannah Van Der Vorst

Jesse Van Der Wees - Dalton Veurink

Engr339/340 Senior Design Project

Calvin College

8 Dec 2014

Hannah van der Vorst, and Dalton Veurink.

Executive Summary

Many rural villages in Nicaragua currently do not have access to clean drinking water. A lack of clean drinking water leads to many easily preventable yet debilitating health concerns. This project aims to remedy this issue by using an ultraviolet light powered by solar panels to disinfect the water the people of the community are currently drinking. Villages will be able to buy a subsided disinfection unit from an organization like World Renew.

Basis of Design

The basic setup of the design is shown in Figure 1. The system will use solar energy to power an ultraviolet light, which will be used to disinfect contaminated influent.

Figure 1.1: System Setup

The team is not sure what sort of pre-filter will be required for this system. Options include everything from a simple metal screen for removing large debris to a microfilter if all other more cost effective options fail.The average monthly solar potential of the area of interest in Nicaragua is shown in Figure 2, and the monthly variation during the lowest solar radiation intensity month of December is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 1.2: Average Monthly Solar Radiation

Figure 1.3: December 2001 Daily Average Solar Radiation

From this data, it can be determined that the water disinfection unit system cannot demand more energy than the average solar radiation over the month of December.

Costs

Table 1.1: Component Cost Breakdown

Component / Solar Panel Kit / Solar Regulator / Battery / UV Light / Housing Materials / Total
Estimated Cost [$] / $250 / $75 / $150 / $475 / $150 / $1100

Implementation Plan

In Nicaraguan villages, the education plan provided in the water disinfection device manual will describe the effects of poor quality drinking water on individual’s health. As part of the implementation of the product, the educators desire to bring a microscope into villages in order to allow the people to see the floating bacteria and debris in their drinking water. The team will then share information about the effects of drinking water with bacteria and other debris in it.

The manual provided with the product will also include detailed analysis of maintenance and cleaning of the device. The manual will contain many figures that will explain cleaning and maintenance of the device to hopefully evade any illiteracy issues.

Table of Contents

Introduction
About the Calvin Engineering Program
Team Members Introduction
Nicaragua Background
Project Statement and Objectives
Identification of the Client
Design Norms
Foreseen Challenges
Design Constraints
Water Demand and Quality
Water Demand
Rainwater
Water Quality
Nicaraguan Standards
Other Standards
Alternate Power Supplies
Solar Panels
Direct Normal Irradiance Data
Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance/Latitude Tilt Irradiance
Global Horizontal Irradiance Data
Wind Turbine
Mechanical Crank
Gas Generator
River Paddle Wheel
Conclusion
Current Approaches
Design Alternatives
Clay Pot Filters
Gravity Carbon Membrane Filters
Disaster Relief Water Filters
Systems in Place
Maintenance
Component Costs
Marketing
Basis of Design
Water Testing
Purpose
Objectives
Key Factors
Field Test Plan
Equipment and Costs
Acknowledgements
References
Appendix

Table of Figures

Figure 1.1: System Setup
Figure 1.2: Average Monthly Solar Radiation
Figure 1.3: December 2001 Daily Average Solar Radiation
Figure 1.4: The Team
Figure 3.1: Average Annual Precipitation for Nicaragua
Figure 3.2: Average Monthly Precipitation: Puerto Cabezas
Figure 3.3: Average Number of Days With Rain: Puerto Cabezas3
Figure 4.1: Annual Solar Radiation
Figure 4.2: Monthly Average Solar Radiation
Figure 4.3: December 2001 Daily Average Solar Radiation
Figure 4.4: Annual Mean Wind Power Density in Nicaragua
Figure 5.1: Cross Section of Clay Pot Filter and Basin
Figure 9.1: System Setup

Table of Tables

Table 1.1 : Component Cost Breakdown
Table 3.1: Water Quality Regulations
Table 4.1: Power Source Alternatives Decision Matrix
Table 7.1 : Estimated Costs of Components

Introduction
About the Calvin Engineering Program

Calvin College places an emphasis on sustainability, international experiences and opportunities, mission, and service. The Calvin Engineering Department demonstrates these principles by integrating them into all facets of the curriculum. Students are taught to consider both financial and environmental factors when making decisions about whichcomponentsto use when designing a product. Students experience other cultures through international internships and off-campus classes. This senior design project aims to incorporate all of these elements.

1.2.Team Members

Our group consists of two Mechanical Engineering and two Civil/Environmental Engineering students. The Mechanical Engineers are Seth Koetje and Dalton Veurink. The Civil/Environmental Engineers are Jesse van der Wees and Hannah vanderVorst.

Seth Koetje is from Grand Rapids, Michigan and is passionate about sustainability. This passion has led Seth to mechanical engineering in order to one day work in the renewable energy industry. Seth hopes to learn more about renewable energy sources as he works with this team to develop a product that utilizes this technology. In his spare time, Seth can often be found outside playing ultimate Frisbee, running, kayaking, or backpacking.

Dalton Veurink is from Salt Lake City, Utah and is studying mechanical engineering with a special interest in the field of renewable energies and their integration into society. This stems from a belief that creation care is very important and plays a critical role in the longevity of society. Dalton hopes to work with and around renewable energies so that they become more economical and further integrated into the fabric of society. In his free time Dalton can be visiting family in the area, working on an art project, or reading a good book.

Jesse vanderWees is a Canadian who grew up in Managua, Nicaragua and Haiti. He has always been intrigued by water. He believes that the sustainable management of this scarce resource is one of the major social and engineering challenges of this century. The realities of population growth and climate change call for innovative solutions, and he is very excited to be a part of this process. When not studying engineering, Jesse enjoys cooking and rock climbing.

Hannah van der Vorst is from Denver, Colorado. She is interested in water conservation and in providing clean water for the developing world. In her free time, Hannah enjoys outdoor activities such as mountain climbing, skiing, backpacking, and kayaking. Hannah also likes to use her musical talents while singing and playing the piano and guitar.

Figure 1.4: The Team: Jesse vanderWees, Hannah van der Vorst, Seth Koetje, and Dalton Veurink

1.3.Nicaragua Background

Nicaragua is a country located in Central America between Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The primary language spoken is Spanish, but there is a substantial indigenous population that speaks Miskito. Some Creole-English is also spoken on the Caribbean coast.

The capital of Nicaragua is Managua, its largest city, with a population of about 1.2 million. Much of Nicaragua, however, is made up of rural villages supported by small-scale agriculture. Many of these villages can be accessed only by river or poorly maintained dirt roads.

There are two major climate zones in Nicaragua, divided by a central mountain range. The East side of Nicaragua, where our project will be implemented, has a tropical rainforest climate. Rain falls every day, and the region routinely experiences tropical storms and hurricanes. Due to widespread erosion, rivers often have a high silt content. This, coupled with frequent livestock use, compromises rivers as a source of drinking water.

1.4.Project Statement and Objectives

Currently, many rural villages have no dependable clean water sources. Diseases due to contaminated water are rampant, but most cases could be prevented with proper water treatment. Children are the most susceptible demographic to waterborne disease, and studies show that children who have access to clean water are more successful in school and have fewer developmental challenges1,2. The objective of our project is to design a system that can collect and disinfect sufficient water to meet the needs of a small rural village in Nicaragua. To accomplish this, a rain collection system will capture the runoff water from the roof of a large building in the village such as a school. Once the rain is captured, the device will implement UV disinfection to sterilize the water. The UV light will be powered by solar panels. Wind turbines and a mechanical crank will also be evaluated as potential alternative/backup energy sources. Energy produced will be stored in a battery. The battery will hold enough power to disinfect water needs for up to one week.

1.5.Identification of the Client

Our client for this project is Mr. Mark van der Wees, who is representing the World Renew in Nicaragua. World Renew is the "development, disaster response, and justice arm of the Christian Reformed Church in North America"3. Mr. van der Wees has indicated that there are numerous rural villages in Nicaragua that lack a reliable source of clean drinking water, and is interested in a dependable system that can store and treat rainwater in a rural village. Ultimately, our clients are the residents of the village where our project is implemented.

1.6.Design Norms

During our design process, we have been careful to keep in mind the eight design norms: cultural appropriateness, transparency, stewardship, integrity, justice, caring, trust, and humility. Although all of these design norms are important to this project, the following design norms carry special significance in this engineering design application:

The people of the village where this disinfection unit will be installed have a culture which is different from the culture of the designing team. The team must pay special attention to this unfamiliar culture by learning as much as possible about how it works while they are visiting the village in late January 2015. The culturally appropriate product must be able to be integrated into the culture with a minimal disruption to the current way of life.

This project will be caring for the customers by educating the people about the needs for clean water and also providing them with a dependable source to clean water. With a source of clean water, the village will limit easily preventable health concerns due to the consumption of contaminated water.

This product must obtain the trust of the people in the village by presenting a detailed manual for showing the community why they need clean water, how this system will provide clean water, and how to use and care for the system so that it will last. The system will be expected to maintain this trust by reducing the number of water related health issues in the village.

Finally, the team must exercise humility when designing the disinfection unit. Although the system may seem intuitive to the design team, the people of the village may not understand how to work the filter at first. Furthermore, the system is in direct competition with other effective methods of water treatment. Rather than approach our design as if ours were the only disinfection product available, the team should strive to refine the system and design it for situations where other systems are lacking.

1.7.Foreseen Challenges

Our system will be installed in a remote location in Nicaragua that is accessible only by dug out river canoes or sometimes by very poorly maintained dirt roads. The remoteness of the villages leads to problems with routine maintenance because it is hard to provide replacement parts and the technical knowledge required to repair or replace broken parts.

A concern about the targeted customers is that they may not realize the need for periodic maintenance and the cleaning of the filters. Neglecting maintenance would shorten the lifespan of the system substantially. Additionally, if the need for clean water is not realized, the people in the village will resort to drinking untreated water because it is familiar and requires less work. There is a general lack of knowledge about the dangers of unsanitary water. If an education plan accompanies the product when it is installed in a village, the device can be used to effectively prevent this sort of trouble from occurring. Good education plans outline why the water needs to be treated for health reasons, how to use the device effectively, and how to best perform periodic cleanings.

Design Constraints

The client, Mr. van der Wees, has outlined a number of constraints necessary to make this water filtration system meet the current needs of the rural villages of Nicaragua. The product must be:

●Entirely enclosed/self-contained / ●Maintain relatively low costs
●Easily transportable in a river by a dugout canoe / ●Easy to clean
●Provide safe drinking water to the village / ●Storm resistant
●Have a 10 year operating life span / ●Simple to operate and maintain

These constraints are discussed in more detail below:

The system must be entirely enclosed/self-contained. It would be counter-productive to have anything interfere with the disinfection process. We would run the risk of infecting clean water with whatever might accidentally come into contact with a system that is not enclosed. Some examples of these “infectants” are: curious animals and people, dirt carried by storms, and particulates in the air.

The system must be transportable in a dug-out river canoe, the most common form of transportation in the targeted villages in Nicaragua. Consequently, the finished product must be no more than 3 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet, and light enough to be carried by two adults (100 lbs). In addition, the whole apparatus must be waterproof in the event that it is accidentally dropped into the river during the transportation process.

The filter must provide clean drinking water to the village. The system will meet or exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for acceptable drinking water quality. This will be achieved by selecting rain as the water source and focusing the treatment on biological concerns. A secondary objective is that the water treatment method does not have a substantial effect on the taste of the water, such that it remains desirable for consumption.

The customer has indicated that the problem with current water filtration devices available in Nicaragua is that they require routine maintenance. Also, the current filtration options do not last as long as desired. For this reason, he has requested that the filter have a 10 year expected operating lifetime with minimal or no maintenance needs during this time.

The people that the system targets have limited financial means. Therefore, the device must be low-cost so that it is easier for the community to obtain and maintain the system. Materials used cannot exceed $1200. This way, a village of 20 families could pay $5 per family per month for a year and cover the material costs of the disinfection unit.

The treatment system should be easy to clean. We aim to make this product as simple and user-friendly as possible, and this means minimizing the frequency that the system will need to be cleaned. We do not want to run the risk of our system failing because it was not cleaned or cleaned improperly.

The system must be able to withstand Nicaraguan storms. Torrential rainstorms are a regular occurrence and hurricanes are also a possibility in Nicaragua. If our system is to last, it must be able to withstand these two types storms.

The final constraint is that the system must be simple to operate and maintain. The system must be intuitive, so that someone with little technical expertise could operate the system with little training. The design of the system must reflect that user could be of any age or height.

Water Demand and Quality
Water Demand

Drinking water in many places throughout Nicaragua can contain harmful chemicals and pathogens. This is especially the case in rural villages where access to water disinfection technologies is nearly impossible. According to the WHO, a minimum of 7.5 liters per capita per day will meet the requirements of most people under most conditions6. These villages typically contain about 100 people, so our system will have to be able to treat 750 liters of water per day.

3.2.Rainwater

Rainwater is the primary source of water that we are evaluating. Like any other country near the equator, Nicaragua experiences a dry season and a rainy season. The rainy season typically lasts from June to December. During the earlier parts of the rainy season large tropical rainstorms can be expected at least once a day. The eastern side of Nicaragua experiences more rain than the west. Annual average precipitation for all of Nicaragua can be found in Figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: Average Annual Precipitation for Nicaragua1

Puerto Cabezas lies on the northeast coast of Nicaragua, as seen in Figure 3.1. It is a location of interest because it experiences the least rainfall in the region, and has historical weather data is available. Monthly precipitation for Puerto Cabezas can be seen below in Figures 3.2 and 3.3.