DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

The Project Report

Course: COM156S

Group number:
9
Submitted by (student 1. Morati Olga Sekgetho- 223032107
details): All members in 2. Phiwe Ngquku- 222317744
the team and student 3. Wonga Liviwa Ndamase- 223022632
numbers: 4. Gernu Waterboer- 222591927
5. Zizipho Mkosana- 222778598

Submitted to (lecturer Ayesha Reiners

details):

Project topic/title
Underground Water Extraction

Submission Date: 25 October 2022

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION

PLAGIARISM DEFINITION
It is the representation of another person’s ideas, research, expressions, computer code, design artefacts, or work as one’s own. Examples of
plagiarism include (but are not limited to): copying from print or electronic sources into one’s own work; imitating existing designs in one’s own
work; copying another student’s assignment or part thereof; overuse of sources; disguising copying by substitution of wording; paraphrasing
without citation. self-plagiarism (repeating own previously published research without acknowledgement).

DECLARATION

1. I know that Plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend that it is one’s own.

2. I have used the Harvard formatting for citation and referencing.

3. This essay/report/project is my own work.

4. I have not allowed anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work.

Signature: All team

members sign
Writing tutor’s name Thami
TERMS OF REFERENCE
TOPIC: UNDERGROUND WATER EXTRACTION
Abstract
Rural areas tend to have lack of resources and services. Many villages are reported
to have problems in accessing water due to some complications such as
governmental ignorance, natural disasters, etc. In South Africa, everyone has a right
to have access to clean and adequate water and this comes as a motivation to
conduct this research. The aim of doing this research is to find a costless way to help
the suffering rural areas to have access to water. On this project extracting
underground water by a DC motor water pump is the method used to make sure that
villages like Nyandeni which was found to be the most destitute village have access
to water. In the world of science and engineering, not all models and laws discovered
work because of errors and other problems faced when building a model. DC motor
water pump did not work properly due to various factors that other developing
engineers must know and fix.

1
Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
2. Method and Methodology.....................................................................................................3
2.1. Materials................................................................................................................................3
2.2. Procedure..............................................................................................................................3
3. Findings.....................................................................................................................................4
4. Analysis and Discussion......................................................................................................4
4.1. Impact on the social, industrial and the environment..............................................4
5. Conclusion....................................................................................................................................5
6. Recommendations..................................................................................................................5

2
 1. Introduction
Nyandeni village is a rural area found in a small town called Libode in the Eastern
Cape province and faces a huge problem of not having access to water. This village
depends on generators powered by diesel to pump the water from the river to where
people can be able to access it. Due to South Africa’s inflation rate, the price of
diesel rises almost each and every month and that makes things difficult for people
who depend on it. It is hard for Nyandeni villagers to keep pumping more water so as
a result the community suffers from the water shortages. Water is one of the basic
human needs so not having water makes people’s lives very difficult. The objective
of this project is to show how engineers can build a model to help Nyandeni citizens
to get water in a way that is not expensive and that meets their standard. Building a
DC motor water pump that uses a solar panel or a rechargeable battery is beneficial
for them as they can be able to fix other problems that they are facing by the money
they are going to save on not buying expensive diesel. This project is limited on
cheaper material to build this water pump which can cause the model not to work.

2. Method and Methodology

2.1. Materials
 Plastic Caps(lid)
 Pin
 Scissor
 straws
 7.2 V Dc motor
 Glue
 1.5 V Battery

The method chosen in this project was the use of DC water pump to extract water.
This pump draws water from underground repeatedly using a process called
upstroke and down stroke. The pump will take the water from an area of low
pressure to an area of high pressure. The DC motor water pump will use electrical
energy from a battery as a source of energy. The batteries are used because the
solar panel was not found during the creation of the model.
Firstly, the water pump will be assembled and after testing if it works, the area which
it will be installed in has to have a high water table to get water easily. A hole which
will act as a well will be the precise location where the motor water pump will be
withdrawing water in. The pump will then draw the water from the aquifer through the
pipes (straws) to the water reserve tank which will be placed for the community.

2.2. Procedure
 Firstly, two plastic lids(caps) were taken, and small holes were made in them
using a pin. On one plastic cap the dc motor was glued to it and the other had
a straw glued to it.

3
  A third plastic cap was cut into a circle to make a propeller like structure,
which will be the one to rotate and as it rotates it draws in the water as well as
releases it to the outside.
 The propeller is glued to the motor which will act as an engine to make it spin.
The motor will also be powered by a battery which acts as a source of energy.
 Straws are used as pipes to transport the water throughout the whole system.

3. Findings
The solar panel and the rechargeable battery were not found due to lack of funds,
then as an alternative a normal battery was used. It was found that the motor used
does not have enough power to pull groundwater because the motor with high
voltage requires a battery with high voltage. The water table on the Nyandeni village
was found to be near the surface which is an advantage to extract groundwater.

4. Analysis and Discussion

Findings show that the water table was found near the surface which is
advantageous on the functioning of the pump. The Constitution of south Africa states
that everyone has the right to have access to clean and adequate water, the building
of the water pump is the solution to their problem. The ground water is found to be
ready for irrigation ,livestock and for human consumption.

4.1. Impact on the social, industrial and the environment

The extraction of water from underground can result in a lowering of water levels in
adjacent aquifers. This may impact upon water bores and natural springs in the
surroundings areas. The water level underground decreases causing a decrease in
the nearby river thus affecting the biodiversity by threatening the survival of aquatic
living things. Excessive groundwater pumping can overdraft aquifers and emptying
them faster than natural systems can fill them. This can result in wells going dry,
saltwater intrusion and cause the land to collapse. Business farmers who live at
Nyandeni, are going to get water and make more money but for farmers staying near
the river, are going to earn less money thus affecting the economy of the country as
whole. On the positive side, building a cost-effective DC motor water pump is
advantageous to them since it will require less maintenance.

4
 5. Conclusion
DC motor water pump is going to change peoples lives as they are going to not
worry to much about money and this pump is productive and efficient for a long time.
.

6. Recommendations
Using a DC motor and a battery that has a high voltage will improve the power of the
pump.