Anse ger water distribution
Title of Project:
Anse Ger Water Distribution
Name and E-mail of students:
Nathaniel Paul (gigspaulo_14@live.com)
Davon Bernadine (stanno1trillion@gmail.com)
Marcus Bastien (jayboybastien@hotmail.com)
Name of School: Anse Ger Secondary School
Address of School: Anse Ger, Desruisseaux .
Micoud, St Lucia.
Phone No. of School: 1-(758)-455-4327
Name and E-mail of Teacher:
Oran Dornelly (oran_dornelly@hotmail.com)
Markusker Isidore (blewdiamonds109@gmail.com)
st
Date: 31 October 2014
Category:
A Environment
Abstract:
The communities in the south of the island of St Lucia have been experiencing
days and sometimes weeks of no pipe borne water. This causes schools to be suspended
temporarily, putting students behind on work. It also causes chores in the household requiring
water to be put on hold. In addition crops being grown at the time by farmers begin to wither
and die, causing farmers to operate at a loss for part of the year.
For our project we focused on supplying water to the community of Anse Ger, which is
where our school is located. We propose to solve this problem, that our school be used as a
water collection and treatment plant. The school was chosen because it has a wide roof area
for collecting water and it is easier to collect water from only one point as opposed to using the
entire community. This would prove difficult, as multiple. Pumps would be needed to pump
the water to and from the school.
We would use a six-step filtration system to ensure the best quality water possible, as
well as alternatives to chemical treatment of harmful microorganisms. The multiple steps
ensure that little or no large particles are left over. We will then collect the water in a large
cistern and distribute it to the community when needed. To enable us in building the cistern
we would obtain the help of a construction engineer as well as a contractor. We will use the
pipeline of WASCO (St Lucia Water and Sewage Company) to distribute the water, since they
are already existing and it would require more money and time to build a new pipeline system.
We will make deals with them to give us a percentage of the water profits for that area every
month in order for us to maintain and sustain the project.
For testing of the water quality, and making sure it is up to standard, we will seek the
aid of CEHI (Caribbean Environmental Health Institute). Since they already test the drinking
water in St Lucia it is best to use them to help us in meeting that standard and retaining that
standard.
PROBLEM
The community of Anse Ger faces a crisis of water pollution
and alternating weeks of water supply in pipelines.
This issue posses a significant problem to the community as
school days are been interrupted, household chores are delayed and
crops wither and die.
OBJECTIVES
Our project seek to:
 Find that our purification process is
effective.
 Prove that our filtration system is better
than the competitors.
 Distribute filtered water through the
community of Anse Ger effectively
during alternating weeks of water
distribution by the local water company.
 Make a profit, which would enable the
sustainability of the project.
APPROACH
To solve the problem identified, we are going to collect, filter
and distribute rainwater to our community. We are going to use the
school as our water collection and treatment plant. The school was
chosen because of its large roof surface area. This permits for a
large amount of rainwater to be collected.
Figure 1: Sketch of School with Dimensions
Figure 2: Satellite Image of School (from SamSamWAter webpage)
Firstly, rainwater runs down throw the guttering till it gets to
the first flush system. In the first flush system, the first set of roof
run off flows down to the part of the pipe with a ball. As the water
fills the pipe the ball floats and blocks the hole. Then cleaner water
passes throw to the next stage.
The water then moves to the pre tank filter where large
particles such as, sediments, twigs and leaves, are filtered. This
new filtered water then flows to the cistern.
In the cistern the water is then left to settle so that heavier
particles settle at the bottom and lighter particles float to the top.
This means that the cleanest water is found in the middle. A
floating cistern filter then pumps that water from the middle of the
cistern to the next stage of filtration.
Figure 3: Sketch of Filtration System
In this stage granulated carbon is used to remove odor
from the water. This new odorless water is then passed through a
series of micron filters. First rated at 30 microns, second at 5
microns and the third at 0.5 microns. This ensures that there are no
or very little harmful microorganisms left in the water. Then the
water moves to the final stage before being distributed, UV
filtration.
In this stage UV light is used to sterilize the water. This
causes bacteria to be incapable of reproduction, thus rendering
them harmless. It is safer than chemical sterilization as they do not
introduce a level of threat to the body.
To determine the amount of water needed for the community
of Anse Ger for the week, the number of households and citizens
residing in the community was found. Then the amount of water
used a day per person was found, this was said to be 100gallons by
WASCO. In addition, the amount of water consumed by the
community per week was calculated:
Gallons of water consumed by the community per day= 500gallons
X ( Number of citizens in the community of Anse Ger + Anse Ger
Secondary School population)
Gallons of water consumed per week = Gallons of water consumed
per day X 7 days a week.
This was determined to find the capacity of the cistern needed to
facilitate the water needs for the community on a weekly basis.
The total number of people in Anse Ger during the week = 327 +
490 = 817.
Number of gallons needed per day = 817 X 100 = 81700gallons.
Gallons of water consumed per week = 81700 X 7 = 571900
gallons per week
From our research we found that the community of Anse Ger
for the past 4 years had an average rainfall of 2344mm. we also
found an equation to calculate the amount of rain water that could
be collected annually.
Amount of rainwater collected per year = annual rainfall X area of
building X runoff coefficient.
Since we have to types of roofing materials used in the
school we have to do to calculations: one mental and the other
concrete.
Rainwater collected by metal roofing = 2344 X 524.17 X 0.9 =
1105789L per year.
Rainwater collected by concrete = 2344 X 18650.3 X 1.0 =
43716303.2L per year.
Total rainwater collected per year = 1105789.0 + 43716303.2 =
44822092.2L
Rainwater collected per year in gallons = 44822092.2 X 0.22 =
9860860.3 gallons per year.
Approximate number of weeks water can be supplied to the
community = 9860860.3 / 571900 = 18 weeks.
This shows that the water can be supplied to community for
approximately 18 weeks. This estimated number could be more
since schools are not opened on weekends and holidays and the
water company may supply the community with water before the
week is up.
From the gallons of water calculated, we can deduce that our
cistern needs to be able to facilitate at least 600000 gallons of
water at any given time. Since the community consumes
approximately 517900 gallons per week.
In Order for the capacity of the tank to be 600000gallons, its
dimensions are as follows:
 102ft length
 100ft width
 8ft depth
The construction engineer and the contractor provided the estimate
cost.
When the water is done filtering we will send a sample to
CEHI (Caribbean Environmental Health Institute) to test the
quality of the water, to confirm that it is suitable for human
consumption. After it is given the approval of CEHI, it will then be
distributed to the community.
During the installation of the filter system we must speak to
WASCO about using their pipelines to pump the water to the
community. Since this is the case we will negotiate as well to get a
certain percentage of money from their profits to maintain and
sustain the filtration system. This will be necessary since the water
running through their pipelines are passed through the meters and
the people are charged from WASCO for the water we provide.
COMPETETION
In the south of the island; which is where Anse Ger is
located; WASCO’s (The St Lucia Water and Sewage Company)
method of treating water is very simple. They let the water flow
into a single large catchment area, where the water is left to settle.
This causes large particles such as dirt and silt to come at rest on
the bottom of the tank. Then it is treated with chlorine to kill
bacteria and other harmful microorganisms.
We on the other hand, use a 6-step filtration system to get the
cleanest water possible. This system includes micron filters and a
UV sterilization system. The 6-step filtration system, unlike the
competitions 1-step settling approach ensures that little or no
sediments are left over before treatment.
In addition, the UV sterilization system uses UV light to kill
bacteria. This is harmless and does not affect the quality or taste of
the drinking water in anyway. This none chemical approach to
water sterilization will not introduce any threat to those consuming
the water. In contrast, the competitor uses chlorine to kill harmful
micro organisms, which when in excess can cause numerous health
problems (respiratory problems; occur when chlorine gas is
inhaled, this can occur while we shower. The chlorine in the water
is released and evaporates. We then inhale this gas not conscious
that we are actually inhaling it. ). Some studies have also shown
that chlorine can lead to cancer, namely colon cancer.
Because of the reasons stated above, we believe that our
solution is better than our competitor WASCOs’s.
RESOURCE LIST
Resources
Cost ($US)
Guttering
Pieces donated from roofing companies
Pump
$1,680.00
First Flush Apparatus
$29.95
Precast Concrete Roof washer w/ filter
(2)
$799.90
Floating Cistern Filter
$149.95
Granulated, Activated Carbon
$239.00
Micron Filters (3)
$18.50
UV Sterilization Apparatus
$515.00
Materials To build Cistern:
Concrete (32 cubic yards, 5000PSI)
Steel (530, ½ inch)
Blocks (2000, 8 inch)
Tying wire (20 rolls, 10lbs)
Total cost = $17,150.86
$5,925.93
$3,533.33
$3,703.70
$555.56
XYPEX HD-150 (Water proofing
material for cistern) (5 X 11kg)
$329.90
Construction Engineer
Contractor
CEHI (Caribbean Environmental Health
Institute)
TIMETABLE
Task
Performed
by
Collect money
from the
community
and school
Studenst
Installing
guttering
Roofing
company
Digging up
area for cistern
Contractor
Building
cistern
Construction
Engineer and
Contractor
Set up
filtration
system
Students &
Teachers
Begin talks
and
negotiations
with WASCO
Students and
teacher
Begin
collecting
rainwater
Students
Testing water
Quality
CEHI
Begin
distribution of
water to the
community
Students
Mth
1
Mth
2
Mth
3
Mth
4
Mth
5
Mth
6
Mth
7
Mth
8
Mth
9
LINK TO S.T.E.M.
Project Topic
Link to S.T.E.M.
Measuring and Finding
the Area of Buildings
Mathematics
Building of Cistern
Engineering
Water Filtering System
Biology, Chemistry,
Physics
Testing the Water Quality
Chemistry
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
 In order to purchase materials an apparatus to build cistern
and filtering systems ($17,150.86 USD, which is
approximately $46,307.32 XCD dollars), We would ask the
citizens of the community as well as the school to donate $5
XCD (approximately $1.86 USD) every week for 5 months.
This amounts to $81,700.00 XCD ($30,259.23 USD). The
left over money can be used to aid any other cost which may
arise such as excavating the build site.
 We could ask the community to donate material (wood,
stones, blocks, sand, cement, etc.) and other resources left
over after previous construction projects. This can help cut
material costs.
 The members of the community could also provide their time
to help build the cistern. This also helps to cut down on labor
cost as well as give the community a sense of ownership in
the project.
REFERENCES
1" Floating Intake Filter With 10' Hose. Rainwater Harvesting Supplies. Retrieved from
http://www.rainharvestingsupplies.com/filtration/floating-intake-filters/1-inch-floatingintake-filter.html
Alanna Ketler (2013, august 15). Chlorine In Water Could Be Linked to Human Cancers.
Retrieved from
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/08/15/chlorine-is-toxic-what-you-need-toknow-about-chlorine-your-health/
Chlorine’s Adverse Health effects. Triangular Wave Technologies INC. Retrieved from
http://www.triangularwave.com/f9.htm
Brad Lancaster. Sealers Approved for Contact with Potable Water, Rainwater Harvesting for
Drylands and Beyond. Retrieved from
http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/rainwater-harvestinginforesources/suppliers/sealers-approved-for-contact-with-potable-wate/
KING KING Xypex high'n dry, 11 KG. The Home Depot. Retrieved from
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/king-xypex-highn-dry-11-kg/902231
2010 POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS. Retrieved from
http://204.188.173.139:9090/stats/images/OtherPublications/StLuciaPreliminaryCensusR
eport2010.pdf
Cistern Tanks. Coate Concrete Tanks. Retrieved from
http://www.coateconcreteproducts.com/mobile/cistern-tanks.html
Water/Wastewater Math Calculator. DEP. Retrieved from
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/waterops/redesign/calculators/volcalchtm.htm
Rainwater Harvesting. Brain Right. Retrieved from
http://brainright.com/OurHouse/Construction/RainwaterHarvesting/
Floating Cisterns. Water Filtration Company. Retrieved from
http://www.waterfiltrationcompany.com/cisternfilter.htm
Water Treatment Process. Hunter Water. Retrieved from
http://www.hunterwater.com.au/Water-and-Sewer/Water-Supply/Water-TreatmentProcesses.aspx
How to filter Rainwater. Retrieved from
http://www.rainbrothers.com/how_to_filter_rainwater_for_drinking.html\
Rainwater Harvesting Tool. SamSamWater. Retrieved from
http://www.samsamwater.com/rain/