Valerie Sonnenberg
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Engineering Projects for the Community
Water Catchment System
For Sophmore Projects, we worked with Comfort My People, a nonprofit based out of Rwanda, to create house-to-house water catchment systems. Our final deliverable was a manual on how to build and maintain the system in-country.
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Client and Problem
We had the great opportunity to work with Comfort My People Rwanda. So far one of their projects has been building houses for widows and families in rural areas. These women have to walk 4 miles a day to get water.The biggest need they face is a rain catchment system for each house. This will save the women valuable time and energy they can put towards making an income.
Design Requirements
Provide water year-round
In order to have enough water for each family in each region of Rwanda, we needed to make a modular, variable system to allow for customizable solutions.
House Roof Angle
We needed to design a house with a roof angle large enough to allow debris and leaves to fall off, but low enough that the back wall would not need to be taller than 18 feet.
Manufacturable without power tools
In the rural areas where Comfort My People is building their houses, there is no power. Therefore we needed to create a system that could be built entirely without power tools.
Water filtration
For the system to be a success, we needed to filter the large debris out. We also needed to find a way to micro filter the water to make it clean and safe to drink.
Communication of Ideas
In order for the entire project to be worth everyone's time, we needed to communicate how to build our system
Budget
Since we were working with a nonprofit that was funded only by donations, we needed the system to be $150 or less
Solutions
Step 1: Figure out roof angle
Building an apparatus
We began by building an apparatus to test roof angles. It had an adjustable angle, and we poured a scientifically put together mixture of debris (a jar of dirt) on top and simulated rain to observe the runoff. We found that 20 degree pitch was the best for our purposes.
Step 2: Water filtration
Iteration is key
We tried 3 different water filtration systems for macro debris. One consisted of chicken wire basket over a turbidity filter made of landscaping cloth, one was a screen to go over the entire gutter, and one was a drop tank, or a tube before the barrels where sticks and leaves would fall and clean water would flow over. We tested all three and the wire basket was the cheapest and the most effective solution.
Step 3: Rainfall analysis
Math Math Math
In order to ensure these systems would supply water year round, we had to extrapolate how much water each family would need and how much rainfall there is in each region. We created a table on page 25 of our manual to inform on how many barrels to use.
Step 4: Manufacturing complications
Exploring the "how to"
In order to communicate how the system should be created without power tools, we needed to create one ourselves. We attached two barrels to our original system, and built a small model to figure out how attaching the gutter to the roof, not the mud brick, would work.
Step 5: Budget
Money
Figuring out how much our system would cost and streamlining materials was difficult but necessary step in our project.
Step 6: Writing the Manual
The most important part
The entire project was leading up to writing the manual. The manual was both our final deliverable and exactly what the client asked for. View the manual in the supporting files section.
Timeline
Conclusion
Implementation trip
In November, one of my teammates and I traveled to Rwanda with a team from Comfort My People. We successfully built 2 water catchment systems for proof of concept. We had to troubleshoot and change our design on the ground, so when we returned we wrote a new manual for the updated system build with materials we found in Rwanda and documentation of actual construction. From now on, every house CMP builds will have a water catchment system installed, and they will be retroactively installing them to previously built houses. To see photos of the trip, click the link.
Take-aways
Working with a client and seeing a real world impact in our project is always a valuable experience. Continuing forward, I have learned to focus more on the final product than the process, even if the process is more fun. We didn't start writing the manual until we had everything else figured out, but it would have been better to outline or write and edit. Please click here to see our final manual, which includes a budget, CAD files, Revit files, and more information on all aspects of the project. If you are interested in donating to allow our client to build more houses or apply more systems to current houses, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Comfort My People
To learn more about The other projects CMPR is completing to help Rwanda right now, visit their website from the button below.