Pedal Operated Water Purifier | Engineering Project

Water is the most basic necessity for life yet nearly one billion people in the world lack access to it. In many developing countries, people walk many miles to reach a source of water that is not necessarily potable. Not only is distance and portability an issue, but the average water collecting container in Africa, the jerry can, weighs over 40 pounds when full. This project proposes to take on challenges associated with the accessibility and cleanliness of the water in developing countries by designing and building a filtration system and sidecar that are portable, durable, and cost-effective.

A centrifugal pump will be used to pull unsafe water out of one holding tank, pass through a filtration system, and onward into a clean tank while the rider pedals the bicycle. Both the holding tanks and the filtration system will be incorporated into the design of the sidecar to provide an entire system that is portable and can be easily retrofitted to most standard bicycles.

Given that the design must target a demographic that includes some of the poorest regions in the world, reliability is one of the primary factors incorporated into the design. The functionality of the pump and filter system needs to require as little maintenance as possible. The design must also be user-friendly as the assumption will be made that users will have no experience with any vehicle of this type. Once the design is optimized, materials within the build will be considered to find the most cost-effective method of manufacturing.

Introduction

The objective of providing pure drinking water throughout the world is one that has been an ongoing process for the past decades. Although we fully support the work done by charities such as The Water Project and Water.org, we believe that it will be a very long time until the water can be provided as a clean source located locally throughout all developing countries. Therefore, our motivation was stemmed from the idea of quickly aiding those less fortunate areas, as well as providing a backup should those regions run into contamination problems within their local wells. In addition, our solution will exponentially reduce the time taken to retrieve the water and allow time for more beneficial tasks to be accomplished in their native area. With our model, we will be able to provide a working solution that mends the problem until a permanent clean water well can be produced within that community.

Problem Statement

Developing countries around the world face debilitating challenges accessing safe and clean drinking water. Alarming statistics lead to the idea to use a simple mechanism of transportation that is common in these areas, such as the bicycle, to help aid their water and sanitation struggles. The goal is to design a bicycle attachment to purify and transport water from contaminated sources that are active while the rider is pedaling. This attachment, though not a permanent solution, would be a contribution to the improvement of their quality of life.

Construction of pedal-powered water purifier

Pedal operated water purifier consists of the following components:

• Centrifugal pump
• Sprocket
• Bicycle
• Power transmitting unit (Chain drive from rear wheel hub to pump shaft)
• Inlet and outlet tubes of the centrifugal pump
• Bucket of water
• Filter

Centrifugal Pump

Pump is a device used to raise, compress, or transfer fluids from one place to another. When a fluid, be it hot or cold, has to be "moved" in the system, pumps are used. In other words, in a more technically appropriate manner, a pump is a machine which has the function of increasing the total (mechanical) the energy of a liquid; this means that the pump transfers energy to the fluid that it receives from the driving motor. Centrifugal pumps are typically used for large discharge through smaller heads.

Sprocket

Sprockets are used in bicycles, motorcycles, cars, tracked vehicles, and other machinery either to transmit rotary motion between two shafts where gears are unsuitable or to impart linear motion to a track, tape, etc.

Crank Arm

Pedal

The bicycle pedal is the part of a bicycle that the rider pushes with their foot to propel the bicycle. It provides the connection between the cyclist's foot or shoe and the crank allowing the leg to turn the bottom bracket spindle and propel the bicycle's wheels. Pedals usually consist of a spindle that threads into the end of the crank and a body, on which the footrests or is attached, that is free to rotate on bearings with respect to the spindle.

Chain Drive

The chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles.

Belt drive

Belts are the cheapest utility for power transmission between shafts that may not be axially aligned. Power transmission is achieved by specially designed belts and pulleys. The demands on a belt-drive transmission system are large and this has led to many variations on the theme. They run smoothly and with little noise, and cushion motor and bearings against load changes, albeit with less strength than gears or chains.

Pulley

A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft that is designed to support movement and change of direction of a taut cable or belt along its circumference. Pulleys are used in a variety of ways to lift loads, apply forces, and to transmit power.

Water filter

A water filter removes impurities from water by means of a fine physical barrier, a chemical process or a biological process.

Pedal Operated Water Purifier

Working

The wheel of the bicycle is rotated with the help of a chain driver and driven rim of the bicycle. The belt drive of the centrifugal pump is connected to the rim of the bicycle, it also rotates when the rim of the bicycle is rotated with the help of the rotation system. The shaft of the centrifugal pump rpm is depended upon human effort. With the rotation of the great speed, the vacuum is created in the centrifugal pump and this vacuum in this centrifugal pump suck the water from the water tank and it passes through the filter clean water discharge through an outlet with some amount of pressure.

Advantages

1. Operated by pedal power and therefore can be used in areas where electricity is irregular or insufficient.
2. Simplistic in design, operations, and handling.

Conclusion

After completing the project, conclude that our project is simple in construction and compact in size for use. The manufacturing of the machine is easy and the cost of the machine is less.