This is part of my uni course for the unit CUC106 – “Design and Innovation: Communication and Technology”.

Brief outline

I am in a group of 3, the others are Lenny from Darwin and David from Sunshine Coast and we are doing a study on a small rural village in Timor Leste named Codo, in the Lautem district. We were given a number of design areas to choose from that are in need of improvement in Timor Leste. We chose improvement of drinking water at a household level using concrete BioSand water filters.

David constructed a plywood form to cast the filter body and drove down to my place to pour the filter. The following is a pictorial account of the construction process.

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Here is an over view of the formwork

TJ next to the form, approx 1m tall

Here is a view of the pipe where the water travels though from the bottom

pipe at bottom of filter (top of form as it is poured inverted)

..and where the filtered water comes out.

outlet pipe

We used a strong concrete mix of 1 part sand, 1 part gravel, 1 part cement.

The dry sand mix

The cement..

cement quantity

Gave it a dry mix..

dry mix

added water and mixed

add water

resulting mix.

the mix

We then poured the concrete carefully into the form, poking and prodding to ensure even distribution and banging the form with a hammer to settle the concrete and exclude any air pockets, especially around the outlet pipe which protrudes from the bottom of the form (top of filter).

pouring the filter body

We did have a bit of a problem with the form failing, so we moved it outside, removed some concrete and repaired the damage. Hopefully we recovered!

We then finished it off to leave for a few days before stripping off the form.

Finishing with a wood float

Part 1 is now completed.

Part 2 will be stripping and adding the filter sand and gravel, then testing.