| Team Leader First Name | Tricia |
| Team Leader Last Name | Compas |
| Additional Team Members | aggie Herzog, Casey Kelleher, Kylie Hensley, Tomiko Oden, and Adam Wegener |
| Group Team Leader Contact Number | (805) 215-2551 |
| Team Leader Email Address | pcompas@calpoly.edu |
| Faculty Advisor First Name | Tryg |
| Faculty Advisor Last Name | Lundquist |
| Faculty Advisor Contact Number | (805) 756-7275 |
| Project Title | Polytech Waterbag, Water Treatment for Disaster Relief |
| Problem Description | After large-scale disasters, prevention of water-borne illness in the survivors is important to rescue and recover. When a disaster strikes, relief organizations typically transport water in bulky, inefficient 5-gallon jugs, and in many cases transport of clean water and/or water treatment devices into disaster zones requires days. Alternative water transportation and treatment for emergency and disaster situations can be expensive (e.g., hand-pumped filters) or only partially effective (e.g., chlorine tablets for disinfection). In addition, commonly-used chlorine and iodine do not kill parasitic cysts effectively and do not remove turbidity, which interferes with disinfection. Steve Rieve, Senior Director of Product Management & Business Planning for the American Red Cross, stresses, “Providing clean drinking water is the #1 challenge in disaster zones.” Thus, there is an urgent need for a low-cost and effective method of water treatment which can easily and quickly be distributed by relief organizations in times of extreme water shortage. In an effort to resolve this water problem, our team is in the process of developing the “Polytech Waterbag,” a device which has the potential to save thousands of lives. |
| Project Description | Our team is in the process of designing and testing a water treatment device for use in disaster zones and emergency situations, such as those created from flooding, tsunamis, and hurricanes. Our group is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students in the engineering, business, and liberal arts schools at Cal Poly, including members of the Engineers Without Borders program. Our advisors include Cal Poly faculty and administrators (in environmental engineering, plastics engineering, public health, and business) and off-campus experts (from the Centers for Disease Control, American Red Cross, Proctor & Gamble, and U.C. Berkeley). These advisors are guiding us to our ultimate goal: to develop a device that will meet the needs of both disaster survivors (simple to use, durable, safe) and relief organizations (inexpensive, long shelf life, packaging to meet logistic needs). The device, called the “Polytech Waterbag,” (waterbag) will ideally be deployed by relief organizations over large areas in less than one day, a capability which organizations do not currently have at a reasonable cost.
The patented waterbag design facilitates safe water provision in four ways: (1) It is easy to fill under difficult conditions, even in shallow water; (2) It can be carried as a backpack or sling with little fatigue; (3) Mixing in the addition of a single 4-g PUR® Purifier of Water sachet, it can remove turbidity, arsenic, cysts, viruses, and bacteria from 10-liters; and (4) It provides hygienic storage and dispensing. The waterbag is a simple 10-liter plastic bag, to be filled with water, which is equipped with a strap, handle (for ease of mixing), and dispensing nozzle. The cylindrical shape and wide mouth of the waterbag allow it to be filled in streams only a few inches deep. Over the past year, We have been fabricating and testing waterbag prototypes to perfect the physical design and method of use. Currently, the waterbag is in its final stages of design and testing to meet World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water standards. Once the waterbag design is finalized, official challenge testing can begin to prove to the Environmental Protection Agency and WHO that the waterbag technology will produce water that meets their emergency and disaster relief standards. Our overall goal is to provide a device that will (1) clean muddy, pathogen-laden floodwater to World Health Organization drinking water standards, (2) cost 90% less than hand-pump water filters, and (3) weigh 99% less than imported 5-gallon jugs of water. Polytech Waterbags are over 20-times more compact than the standard plastic jugs used in relief work, a life-saving advantage for transportation to remote areas. Once in the hands of a family, a waterbag can treat enough water to supply a family of four for 5 to 10 days. |
| Project Timeline | Phase I
Finalize mixing and treatment protocol based on turbidity data and filter clogging and flow rates; Finalize filter material; Work with Human Subject Protocol Committee to finalize pictographic instructions… share the latest design with manufacturers and obtain manufacturing cost estimates; Continue partnerships and establish more partnerships with non-governmental organizations and private industry; Begin EPA water challenge testing to evaluate design and treatment efficacy. Phase II Improve current filter prototype created by Honors Winter 2009 students to make the bag more compact for packaging purposes; Test and prove a new, simplified mixing method, possibly including the use of baffles or a new length to width ratio of the bag; Update prototype costs and projected manufacturing costs of device; Complete EPA challenge water testing. |
| Budget | udget for initial $500:
Rapid prototyping costs: $200, Waterbag prototype supplies: $50, Water quality laboratory analysis and supplies: $250* *If total cost of filter material and prototypes is less than $250, we will put the remaining amount towards laboratory fees and supplies. We expect that the laboratory analysis and supplies necessary to meet our milestones will be the most costly portion of the project this quarter. The anticipated amount needed for commercial lab testing may exceed $10,000; additional allotted funding will most likely go towards laboratory analysis. |
| Image | picture |
| Picture Description | Polytech Waterbag hanging to allow for particle settling. |
| Links | KCOY: http://www.kcoy.com/Global/story.asp?s=10094876
Cal Poly Magazine: http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/magazine/Winter-08/Clinton.html Cal Poly Engineering Advantage: http://ceng.calpoly.edu/articles/cal-poly-engineering-inventions-receive-patents/ SLO Tribune: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/183/story/542844.html |
