Planning out Our Idea:

Link for all competition information: https://www.unh.edu/sustainability/student-education-engagement/community-

changemaker-challenge-high-schools

Name: Potabarrel, a potable (and portable?) water barrel!

Possible Slogan Ideas:

Main Goals of Design:

• Cheaper water filtering systems (produces not just detoxified, but drinkable water)
• More efficient filtering systems for mass purification (can handle gallons at a time and doesn’t take as long as
boiling)
• More compact and portable design that can be easily distributed in third world countries
• Environmentally friendly design and sustainable materials
• Some sort of power / energy generating system with the water pressure?

Design Research:

• Ways to purify water

o 10 methods: https://learn.allergyandair.com/water-filters/
▪ Activated carbon: can remove chlorine, mercury, and lead + improve taste/odor, but cannot
remove inorganic pollutants such as nitrates, fluoride, and arsenic
▪ Distillation: removes minerals, microorganisms, and chemicals, but not chlorine and other
volatile organic chemicals
▪ Deionization: removes salts and other electrically charged ions, but not living organisms
▪ Ion exchange / other water softeners: softens water by replacing calcium and magnesium with
sodium, reduces mineral content but not suitable for people who cannot consume higher
amounts of sodium
▪ Reverse osmosis: removes all molecules larger than water, though very expensive and not
efficient, best for domestic use
▪ Mechanical: best for removing sediments and cysts (not chemical contaminants)
▪ Ozone: kills large amounts of microorganisms, though not chemicals
▪ Carbon block: block shaped filters of crushed carbon particles, effectiveness depends on how
fast water flows through
▪ Granulated carbon: slightly less effective than carbon blocks, but faster filtering
o Charcoal, sand, and gravel filters to purify water: https://hometrendys.com/how-to-filter-water-using-
charcoal-sand-and-gravel/ (fairly cheap)
• Things that our barrel will need to filter:
o Physical
▪ Sediments
▪ Cysts
▪ Organic material due to soil erosion
 o Chemical
▪ Nitrogen
▪ Bleach
▪ Salts
▪ Pesticides
▪ Toxins produced by bacteria
▪ Human or animal drugs
▪ Nitrate / nitrite (coming from chemical fertilizers, human sewage, and animal wastes /
fertilizers)
▪ Heavy metals (arsenic, antimony, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, selenium, etc.)
▪ Organic chemicals
▪ Fluoride
▪ Ammonia
▪ Chlorine / chloramines
o Biological
▪ Bacteria
▪ Viruses
▪ Protozoa
▪ Other parasites
o Radiological
▪ Cesium
▪ Plutonium
▪ Radium
▪ Any other chemical element with an unbalanced amount of protons and neutrons, resulting in
unstable atoms that can emit ionizing radiation
o Sources
▪ https://www.epa.gov/ccl/types-drinking-water-contaminants
▪ https://www.epa.gov/privatewells/potential-well-water-contaminants-and-their-impacts
▪ https://www.discountfilterstore.com/water-contaminants.html
• Other design ideas
o Purely rainwater filtering (rainwater relatively clean), but our barrel can handle non-rainwater too:
https://www.survivalsullivan.com/make-water-filter-barrel/
o Generating energy with water pressure
▪ https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-sixth-way-to-generate-power-from-water-
pico-
hydro#:~:text=The%20water%20pressure%20is%20there,a%20turbine%20and%20create%20ele
ctricity.
▪ https://www.mswmag.com/editorial/2016/07/converting_water_pressure_into_power
▪ https://contest.techbriefs.com/2013/entries/sustainable-technologies/3491
o Using sustainable materials
▪ How bioplastics work: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/bioplastics.html
▪ Types of biodegradable plastics: https://omnexus.specialchem.com/polymer-
properties/properties/biodegradable
• Shopping links for prices (& design ideas?)
o Home Depot water filtration systems (very expensive!): https://www.homedepot.com/b/Kitchen-Water-
Filters-Water-Filtration-Systems/N-5yc1vZcdc0
o Regular rain barrels on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rain+barrels&crid=3HG0W1ZCL4KX6&sprefix=rain+barrels%2Caps%2C94
&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
 o Filtering rain barrels on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=filtering+rain+barrels&crid=240O4EQPEKYQU&sprefix=filteringrain+barr
els%2Caps%2C75&ref=nb_sb_noss
o Lightweight rain barrels on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=lightweight+rain+barrel&crid=1OX6OSLMAEH4R&sprefix=lightweight+ra
in+barrel%2Caps%2C104&ref=nb_sb_noss

Brainstorming:

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/donnel-baird-climate-change-green-
energy/
• https://www.greenjournal.co.uk/2017/12/new-creative-ways-to-generate-and-store-green-energy/
• https://interestingengineering.com/21-sustainability-innovations-that-might-just-change-the-world
• Something we can put together ourselves
• App for monitoring salt in crop land – looking for average salt content
• Energy generating playground
• Rain barrel purification filtering
• Floor tiles generating energy - roads
• Window solar panels
• High salinity levels in soil due to agricultural problems
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL0Fai06OhU
• Sound to diffuse forest fires

Limitations

• In amount that can be filtered?

• Mosquitos live?
o handle
• Water may freeze in colder climates?

Background and Context Research:

• Four billion people — almost two thirds of the world’s population — experience severe water scarcity
for at least one month each year.
• Over two billion people live in countries where water supply is inadequate.
• Half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025.
• Some 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030.
• By 2040, roughly 1 in 4 children worldwide will be living in areas of extremely high water stress.

- Statistics
- Description of problem

Rainwater is full of nutrients and water

barrels make use of a free source of free water – rainwater. Rain barrel is a system that collects and stores rainwater
from a roof.

Disadvantages/problems with rain barrels:

- small size which limits volume of collected rainwater

- Roofs contaminate water -> water not clean enough for drinking -> could not water edible plants/vegetables
- Other problems: barrels may freeze in the winter and the top of the barrel could attract mosquitoes
PotaBarrel: An Inexpensive, Portable, and Efficient Filtration System to Mitigate Global Water Scarcity

Maggie Chang, Jaansi Patel, Ariana Thornton, and Riya Tyagi

Introduction
Water scarcity is a shortage of clean water due to several factors, including damaged infrastructure and
water distribution systems, limited natural water supply, conflict over water resources, climate change, and
contamination. Currently, water scarcity severely affects over 2.7 billion people for at least one month per year,
especially women and girls who are responsible for collecting it for their families. By 2025, two-thirds of the
world’s population may face water shortages at our current rate of consumption.i In 2020, 368 million people
took water from unprotected lakes and springs, 122 million people collected untreated surface water from lakes,
ponds, rivers, or streams, and 282 million people had to travel more than 30 minutes to collect water from an
improved water source.ii
One method of tackling water scarcity is through accessible and convenient water filtration systems,
including filtration of free water harvested from rain or other water sources through rain barrels. Existing
barrels have limitations including bulkiness, high price, low efficiency of water purification, and low storage.
We propose PotaBarrel: A lightweight, portable, and inexpensive water barrel designed for global use,
especially in third-world countries, to produce potable water in an efficient manner. This water barrel will be
able to filter water from rain and other sources using a 3-step system to significantly reduce all major physical,
chemical, and biological contaminants that are targeted in similarly functioning household water filtration
systems.
Additionally, rain barrels have various ecological benefits that aid our climate. Using filtered water from
natural sources like rain reduces runoff pollution and erosion. Runoff from rain can pick up soil, oil, pesticides,
fertilizers, and other contaminants that will eventually reach aquatic wildlife, but this filtering system can make
this water safe for drinking so that the pollutants never reach aquatic ecosystems. iii Even in places where people
have regular access to drinking water, harvesting potable water on your own has significantly less ecological
impact than the companies in the water industry, and it has the added benefit of reducing the water bill. iv

Our Solution
Many existing rainwater barrels have key issues with their design: A wide opening for water that attracts
breeding mosquitoes, a filtering screen prone to tears, or a filtering system limited to physical contaminants. v
However, our water barrel design has a simple 3-step system to eliminate all dangerous amounts of
contaminants targeted in more expensive water filtration systems for residential purposes. Additionally, most
rain barrels only filter water so that it can be used for purposes such as watering plants, washing cars, or filling
toilets, but the water is not for drinking, bathing, or washing. vi For the few models of rain barrels that do
produce drinking water, they cost hundreds of dollars and are more intended for industrial uses as they are too
large to store efficiently in an average household.
Our design solves these issues so that people can filter up to 50 gallons of water at a time without having
to deal with a bulky design. The barrel comes with a variety of easy to assemble pieces, including a series of
sturdy, recycled plastic water storage tubs and sand, gravel, and carbon block circular filters. These pieces can
be stacked on top of one another through snap-down buckles, allowing for a collapsible and rearrangeable
barrel. Replacement of filters is a very efficient process as well. Additionally, a funnel is included, which
attaches on top of the barrel to collect rainwater more efficiently with maximized surface area. The chlorine
tablets need to be simply placed in after each round of filtration.
 Our barrel can also filter out water from other sources such as lakes, rivers, springs, and wells. The
water simply needs to be poured in at the top just as the rainwater would enter the filtration system. If someone
wishes to filter out water from a body of water, they may disassemble the barrel, carry it to a place where water
will be collected, and set it up for filtration right at the source. As for the cost, while physical and chemical
contaminants can be filtered out with cheap technology, eliminating biological contaminants is more difficult
and requires expensive filtering.vii However, we have solved this problem by using chlorine tablets to naturally
disinfect the water in the second step of this process; these tablets can be bought for low prices in bulk and last a
very long time. A challenge with these tablets is removing harmful chlorine. Our unique solution is to filter out
excess chlorine with a highly effective carbon block filter, which also purifies other chemical contaminants,
ensuring potable water.

Design & Diagram

Water passes through the barrel according to the filtration pipeline below.
1. Water enters the barrel through a large funnel, enabling maximum surface area for water collection. This
funnel is covered in a mesh screen so that leaves, rocks, and small animals do not fall in.
2. Water passes through a physical filter of sand & gravel
a. Gravel catches twigs, grass, and bugs
b. Sand catches smaller particles of dirt and grit, giving the water a clean appearance viii
3. Water collects in a chamber, where a biological filter of chlorine is applied
a. A supply of chlorine tablets that arrive along with the rain barrel will disinfect all biological
pathogens (i.e. viruses, bacteria, and protozoa)ix
b. The chlorine tablets are sized so that they can effectively disinfect up to the 50 gallon holding
limit of the barrel. One must simply place the tablet in the holding chamber for disinfection and
does not need to worry about the proportions or ratio for proper disinfection.
c. As chlorine is also dangerous for human consumption, it will be filtered out in the next step
4. Water passes through a chemical/radiological 0.5 micron carbon block filter
a. The carbon block filter uses adsorptive technology to filter out all 32 organic contaminants
identified by the EPA, all 14 pesticides listed by the EPA (includes nitrates), and 12 most
common herbicides
i. Removes chlorine, chlorine by-products, and significantly reduces chloride
concentrationx
ii. Also significantly reduces lead, zinc, arsenic, asbestos, copper, heavy metals, calcium,
and fluoride concentrationsxi
iii. The activated charcoal needed for the carbon block filter can be made from wood or
coconut shells, which is much more accessible than coal-based carbon block filters.xii
This means that the barrel can be produced closer to local communities where it will be
used, reducing the costs and times of shipping.
5. Water, now purified, collects in a large storage area, ready for human consumption.
i https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-
scarcity#:~:text=Billions%20of%20People%20Lack%20Water,may%20be%20facing%20water%20shortages
ii https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
iii

https://www.cityofedgewater.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/environmental_services/page/2351/top_10_benefits_of_rain_
barrels_5-1-2017.pdf
iv https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulated-companies/company-obligations/performance/companies-performance-2014-

15/environmental-impact/
v https://www.sgvmosquito.org/keep-mosquitoes-out-of-your-rain-barrel
vi https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/private/rainwater-collection.html
vii https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/home-water-treatment/water-filters/step3.html
viii https://www.seniorcare2share.com/how-to-filter-water-using-charcoal-sand-and-gravel/
ix https://www.lenntech.com/processes/disinfection/chemical/disinfectants-
chlorine.htm#:~:text=How%20does%20chlorine%20disinfection%20work,in%20bacteria%20and%20other% 20cells.
x https://tappwater.co/en/what-activated-carbon-filters-

remove/#:~:text=Chlorine%20(Cl)&text=Activated%20Carbon%20filters%20are%20excellent,more%20of%20the%20free%20chlorine
.
xi https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-11/documents/2005_11_17_faq_fs_healthseries_filtration.pdf
xii https://www.karbonous.com/blog/use-of-coconut-shell-activated-carbon-in-water-filter/