Project Overview

Market Needs:

Problem Statement – Produce a design to augment the water system of the Ban Huay Mii village in Thailand in order to improve the quality, taste, and safety of their water supply.

Background - Thailand today has an extensive community of farmers that live in villages that lack basic resources such as clean water, food, electricity etc. The Bo Kula District located in northern Thailand is home to thousands of farmers and hundreds of villages. Ban Huay Mii, is an ordinary village in the Bo Kula District that unfortunately does not have the proper resources to provide its villagers with sanitary and living conditions. Aid and support has already been provided but there is always room for more help.

          An infinite clean water source is rarely seen in many villages in Thailand. Ban Huay Mii is located in an advantageous location; it has a natural stream that is located at a higher elevation that feeds several water storage tanks. The villagers are receiving decent quantities of water, however the quality of the water is substandard and possibly detrimental to the health of those who drink it.

         Essentially the water that is collected in the storage tanks needs to undergo a serious of filtration sequences to reduce the turbidity and the contamination. There has been plenty of research to further develop suggestions to the current filtration system but there has not yet been a solution. In the next few weeks work will be done to develop a system to augment the current water supply system of this village in order to improve its taste, clarity, and safety.

Stakeholders -

Village of Ban Huay Mii:

Freshman Engineering Lab Section 024 Group 01:

-          James Shanley

-          Joshua Shore

-           Eduardo Gomez Leon

-          Vito Velinov Milanov

Dr. Alexander J. Moseson and Teaching Assistants:

-          Ken Mallory

-          Magid Bdeir

Bob Shim and the Sustainable Development Research Foundation:

Drexel Thai Harvest:

The Drexel University College of Engineering:

Needs -

Village of Ban Huay Mii:

-          The village of Ban Huay Mii needs an improved water filtration system that will decrease the turbidity of the water and remove microorganisms such as E Coli [1]. The water filtration system must be cost effective and easy to produce.  The villagers of Ban Huay Mii also need to be properly educated about how to take care and maintenance their water system.

Freshman Engineering Lab Section 024 Group 01:

-          All requirements of the freshman Engineering Lab 103 course at Drexel University must be met by the end of the winter term. This will require the group to work together effectively, and develop an outline and schedule to produce a report proposing improvements to the Ban Huay Mii water system.

Dr. Alexander J. Moseson and Teaching Assistants

-          Dr. Moseson and his teaching assistants need our group to follow directions and fulfill the requirements for the freshman design lab. Dr. Moseson has invested allot of his time in this project and its success will be beneficial to his career, and future sustainability projects.

Bob Shim and the Sustainable Development Research Foundation

-          The SDRF needs for our group to present them with a reasonable and cost effective proposal for implementation in the water system in the Ban Huay Mii village

Drexel Thai Harvest Initiative

-          Drexel Thai Harvest has similar needs to the SDRF along with the fact that if a group of Drexel students developed an effective water filtration system for impoverished Thai villages it would be another positive impact that Drexel Thai Harvest has had in the area

The Drexel University College of Engineering

-          The College of Engineering needs our group to responsibly represent Drexel, and its college of engineering. This will require positive and professional interactions with clients as well as the production of the final product . If this project is successful it will shed more light on Drexel’s fantastic engineering programs.

Priorities & Constrains -

Village of Ban Huay Mii - First Priority

-          The Village of Ban Huay Mii prioritizes their water need by requesting less turbid, better tasting water over larger quantities of water [1]. Because this is not a wealthy village with abundant resources, a filter system developed for them must be as inexpensive to produce as possible. It is also important to educate the villagers on clean water practices such as keeping animals away from their water supply, and to clean their storage tanks often. The villager’s water needs are the first priority of this project. The main goal of this project is to produce clean water with minimal bacteria contamination.

Freshman Engineering Lab Section 024 Group 01 - Second Priority

-          Our group’s first priority is developing a solution for the Ban Huay Mii villege. In order to come up with a solution we must carefully plan and use the next several weeks wisely to develop and effective solution. The second priority of this group is to meet all expectations that are required in this course.

Dr. Alexander J. Moseson and Teaching Assistants - Second priority (2)

-          Dr. Moseson and his teaching assistants first priority is for our group to complete all required tasks within the freshman design lab which will include the development of a proposal for an improved water filtration system for the village.

Bob Shim and the Sustainable Development Research Foundation - Third Priority

-          The SDRF’s first priority is for our group to present them with an implementable and cost effective water filtration system proposal. The second need of the SDRF is that the project success will contribute to the esteem of the organization enabling it to grow.

Drexel Thai Harvest - Third Priority (2)

-          Drexel Thai Harvest’s priorities are the same as the SDRF.

The Drexel University College of Engineering - Third Priority (3)

-          The college of engineering first priority is for our group to positively represent Drexel engineering followed by our group developing a solution to the water filtration problem. The success of our project will contribute to the esteem of the college.

Conceptual Design:

It would be premature to focus on one specific type of filtration or collection system in this early stages of the project. Because the quality of the village’s water supply is the villagers main concern this project will focus on filtration systems to remove particulates, and bacteria from the water. Unfortunately due to time and resource constraints, the scope of this project will be focused on augmenting the water filtration system already in place at Ban Huay Mii village, rather than starting from scratch. 

Manual for existing water systems - The Ban Huay Mii village uses storage tanks to keep their water. When the water sits in the storage tanks, the mud, and other particulates in the water sinks to the bottom. These storage tanks are fitted with purge valves, which allow them to be emptied and cleaned. [1] One of the most significant contributors to the poor water quality is that the villagers are unaware of how to take care of their water system. Therefore it might be the best course of action to first produce a comprehensive manual for the maintenance and care of the system they currently have in place.

Slow sand filter - A slow sand filter involves running water through a compact layer of sand. This will remove many particulates and other small or large objects from the water source. This system also serves as a checkpoint to filter out bacteria contaminating the water. The sand filter has proven to work because after a few days of operation a layer of bacteria and other biological material will build up on top of the sand. This layer will trap bacteria as water cruises through it (see figure #1) [2].  While this is an excellent, inexpensive method for cleaning water, it requires a lot of maintenance. The bacteria layer must be sifted and cleaned periodically throughout the year for the best results.

Figure # 1 : Slow Sand Filtration

Ultraviolet water purification – UV water treatment has proven to be an effective way to purify water. This system operates by running clear water through ultraviolet light (See figure #2). This will kill most if not all bacteria living in a contaminated water supply [3]. While it is a very effective purification method, it will probably be expensive to build, and maintain. The system will require power from a solar panel, which if damaged, would be difficult for the villagers to replace.

Figure # 2 : Ultraviolet Purification

Activated Carbon Filtration - Activated carbon is another excellent method to filter out particulates and potentially harmful biological material from water. A filter containing activated carbon would work similarly to a slow sand filter, in relation to the gravity fed system where water is pored over a layer of activated charcoal and filtered out the bottom [4] (See figure #4).  This substance can be made using charcoal from burned corn husks, bamboo, and wood. Because activated carbon is relatively easy to produce this may be a perfect filtration method for the Ban Huay Mii village.

Figure # 3 : Activated Carbon Filtration

Project Management:

Project Deliverables – An extensive report will be complied and will contain research on several different methods of water filtration that the community of the Ban Huay Mii village will be capable of integrating into their water system. These filter systems will theoretically significantly improve the taste, turbidity, and safety of the village’s water. The filtration system being developed will take into account the available resources the villagers possess, and be as inexpensive to implement as possible.  This filtration system will be designed to be as simple to build as possible. This will allow for easy implementation of the system, and allow Ban Huay Mii community leaders to teach nearby villages how to improve their water systems using the systems developed in this project.

Main Deliverable – A report on how to improve the biological and physical qualities of the drinking water of the Ban Huay Mii village in Thailand.

Project Schedule -
Week 3 - Discuss different ways of filtration - pros and cons.
Week 4 - Continue discussing different methods of filtration.
Week 5 - Choose filtration method(s) and start in depth research
Week 6 - Use research to figure out how the chosen filtration system could be applied in Ban Huay Mii
Week 7 – Begin development of a report which will include a step by step plan to implement new water filtration mechanisms to the village’s current water system.  
Week 8-10 - Work on the step by step plan, and final presentation.  If time permits construct small scale model of improved water system.  

Projected Budget - According to the Integrated Development Assesment Bo Kula, Thailand the villagers have low income and are conservative by nature. Therefore the theoretical budget for this project should not exceed 1,500$, which is about 2 days’ pay of every citizen in the village [1]. The real resource that this project will require will be the time it will take to construct the water filtration system. The Engineering Group # 1 in lab section 024 responsible for this project expects to have no expenses.