1. Solar&Powered+Water+Purifica2on+System,+2016+
Background+and+Mo2va2on+
!According!to!the!World!Health!Organiza3on,!650!million!people!do!not!have!access!to!
clean!drinking!water.!In!addi3on,!315,000!children!under!age!5!die!each!year!caused!by!
poor!water!quality.!Indus3ral!processes!require!power,!and!developing!countries!do!not!
have!reliable!access!to!power.!
!
Problem+Defini2on+
!To!design!and!manufacture!a!water!purifica3on!system!powered!only!by!solar!energy!
with!the!ability!to!produce!clean!drinking!water.!The!design!will!simply!require!the!user!to!
input!the!hazardous!water!into!the!ini3al!tank.!From!here,!the!system!will!run!
autonomously!via!mul3ple!water!level!switch!signals!sent!to!a!Programmable!Logic!
Controller!(PLC)!to!control!the!opera3on!3ming!of!the!pump!and!reactor.!The!water!will!
be!sani3zed!and!stored!in!the!final!tank.!Our!goal!was!to!produce!30!liters!of!clean!water!
per!cycle.!This!is!equivalent!to!a!day’s!worth!of!water!for!ten!people.!The!clean!water!
output!must!meet!standards!set!by!the!EPA!for!potable!drinking!water.!
!
Our+Approach+
+AQer!we!decided!that!other!design!alterna3ves!including!water!chlorina3on!and!
boiling!were!not!feasible!op3ons,!we!decided!to!sani3ze!the!water!through!the!crea3on!
of!ozone!and!reac3ve!oxygen!species.!This!required!a!highSvoltage!and!highSfrequency!
square!wave!which!discharged!across!two!stainless!steel!rods!mounted!in!a!pipe.!!
!
!First,!we!created!water!with!a!high!concentra3on!of!bubbles!from!ambient!air!by!
pumping!water!through!a!venturi!nozzle.!!
Brenin!Ford,!Michael!Munzer,!Connor!Kennedy,!Brigand!Blake!
Department!of!Engineering,!Trinity!College,!HarXord,!CT!06106!
Project!Advisor:!Dr.!Venkateswaran!
1.!System!Input:!Dirty!Water!!
2.!Ini3al!Water!Tank!
3.!Ini3al!Sediment!Filter!
4.!Solenoid!Valve!(1)!
5.!Secondary!Tank:!Sanita3on!
Cycle!Tank!
6.!Level!Switch!(1)!
7.!Water!Pump!
!
8.!High!Voltage!Reactor!
9.!Foam!Frac3onator!
10.!Frac3onator!Runoff!
11.!Solenoid!Valve!(2)!
12.!Solenoid!Valve!(3)!
13.!Level!Switch!(2)!
14.!Final!Tank:!Clean!Water!Tank!
15.!System!Output:!Clean!Water!
!
System+Overview+ Tes2ng+Methods+and+Results+
Test!1:!Indigo!Carmine!Die+
!
Test!2:!Bacteria!Plate!Count!&!
LabTech!Drinking!Water!Quality!test+
!A!sanita3on!cycle!was!run!for!50!minutes.!By!observing!dish!A!it!is!
clear!that!the!colonies!of!bacteria!seen!in!the!dish!B!are!sucessfully!
destroyed!in!this!3me!period.!This!test!was!run!several!3mes!using!
different!bacterial!plates!with!similar!results.!
!While!running!one!of!our!bacteria!tests!with!HarXord!river!water,!
three!samples!were!taken!using!three!LabTech!drinking!water!test!
strips.!The!water!was!cycled!through!the!sanita3on!system!for!a!total!of!
50!minutes.!Strip!samples!were!taken!aQer!10,!30,!and!50!minutes.!The!
LabTech!test!strips!gave!us!the!following!informa3on!measured!in!parts!
per!million!(ppm).!The!final!values!met!the!EPA!standards!for!safe!
drinking!water.!The!full!EPA!table!of!drinking!water!contaminants!can!be!
found!here:!h"ps://www.epa.gov/your1drinking1water/table1regulated1
drinking1water1contaminants;
!
!Indigo!Carmine!Dye!tests!under!varying!power!inputs!run!for!five!
minutes.!The!color!change!from!blue!to!yellow!proves!the!existence!of!
ozone!in!the!system.!
!From!here,!the!airSentrained!(foaming)!water!flows!through!the!reactor!and!is!subject!
to!a!square!pulse!corona!discharge!between!two!electrodes.!Larger!water!contaminants!are!
then!removed!through!the!use!of!an!ini3al!sediment!filter!and!a!foam!frac3ona3on!system.!
AirSentrained!water!!
(foaming!water)!
50!Minute!
Sanita3on!Cycle!
!AQer!tes3ng!many!different!electrode!configura3ons,!we!decided!that!a!parallelS
rod!configura3on!was!the!best!choice.!This!configura3on!resulted!in!a!well!distributed!
discharge!inside!the!pipe!and!a!large!maximum!discharge!voltage!of!240!kV.!!
!AQer!passing!through!the!highSvoltage!reactor,!the!flows!con3nues!through!a!foam!
frac3ona3on!system!in!which!larger!contaminants!are!frac3oned!off!and!removed!
from!the!water.!This!cycle!is!run!for!enough!3me!to!destroy!the!contaminants!in!the!
water!before!it!is!pumped!into!the!final!tank.! LabTech;Drinking;Water;Test;Kit;Results;
Venturi;Nozzle;SchemaFc;
Real1Fme;Discharge;
Across;electrodes;
CAD;Drawing;of;Chosen;
Electrode;ConfiguraFon;
1000:1;Voltage;Scale;;
Max;Voltage:;240;kV;+/1;5%;
Solar1Powered;Water;PurificaFon;System;Design;