notes and Excel spreadsheet link

Here is the link to the excel spreadsheet:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?page=view&resid=F8BD0C19DC8D099F!720&authkey=!ALi0lJ-I93ewPhY


The glass wool filter worked well, however, due to ease of use, safety, and cost efficiency, there was a switch to 100% cotton filters. They are uniform in size and shape having a diameter of 5.8 cm.

There seemed to be even less resistance with the cotton, as the flow rate increased, albeit not to a huge extent. This then required a change in the testing time, decreasing from 20 seconds to 15 seconds and finally down to 10 seconds in order to ensure the precision of the readings by allowing use of the smallest graduated cylinder, the most precise measuring tool available.

The clay appeared to be sufficiently permeable and will be incorporated into the sand after 3 days of readings using 100% sand. The clay will be weighed and height approximated to attempt in decreasing the sand height by 5% initially or 0.0177 m. The new sand height will then be 0.336 m which is easily determinable.

If the amount of mixture between the clay and sand is significant, and excessive sand is unusable after the initial clay sand mix test, a cotton filter will be placed between the sediment layers to avoid unnecessary waste.

Clay/sand layering will commence on Mon 23 Mar for initial testing of layered sediment.

Permeameter (fully functional)

Basic Procedure

• Water reservoir will be filled prior to starting the pump.
• After a 1-2 minute waiting period, the remaining visible air bubbles will be removed from the tubing connections 
• An additional running time of 1-2 minutes will ensue before taking readings.
• Using a 600 mL beaker, the runoff from the head low water will be collected for 20 seconds.
• The sample will then be transferred to a 25 mL graduated cylinder and the volume will be recorded. 
• This process will be repeated 10 times per trial.
• After a designated waiting period of (??) hours, another ten readings will be taken in the same manner. This will help determine if sand settlement causes fluctuation.
• The process will be repeated in its entirety for each sediment variation using identical parameters.

Methods and Materials Outline

[Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity]

Methods and Materials
            - variables
                  -- sediment type, amount, location (what layer)
            - manipulation
            - timetable


Sediment

• Natural 
•   Collection points
•  River, Creek, Lake
• Lab samples
• Sand
• Grain size
• Clay
• Makeup/components (if known)
• Amount 
• Varying
• Proportions
• Fixed
• Position 
• Varying
• Layered
• Mixed
• Fixed

Testing - Permeameter

• construction
• process
• pictures
• materials
• purpose for choices
• relative cost analysis
• function
• materials breakdown
• overall 

Analysis Methods

• Darcy's Law
• equation
• purpose

Hydraulic Conductivity: Permeameter

This is a design from the MIT course, thought it was interesting that they don't have a constant water source.



Currently I am working on the Introduction/Background for the lab report/presentation.
The powerpoint is also underway.

 --will post as sections are organized and cohesive

Groundwater Books

Freeze, R. A. & Cherry, J. A. (1979). Groundwater. Prentice-Hall: New Jersey.     (978-0133653120) 
(still on the hunt, only found for purchase thus far)

http://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/2220/report.pdf
(this was a free download published by the Dept of the Interior and US Geologic Survey) 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/civil-and-environmental-engineering/1-72-groundwater-hydrology-fall-2005/index.htm
 (- this is the same information/materials as the MIT online course on Groundwater Hydrolog in Fall 2005 available from their Open CourseWare program)
 - could be promising, I plan to go through the materials and narrow down which aspects are most pertinent to this study

Here is an outline of the syllabus.

Outline

1. Background
   • Hydrologic Cycle
   • Water Budgets
2. Groundwater
   • Darcy's Law and Hydraulic Potential
   • The Steady-state Groundwater Flow Equation
   • Streamlines and Flow Nets
   • Regional Flow and Geologic Controls on Flow
   • Transient Flow, Aquifer Storage and Compressibility
   • Unconfined Flow
   • Groundwater Interaction with Streams and Lakes
   • Numerical Methods
   • Flow in Fractured Rock
3. Well Hydraulics
   • Thiem and Theis Equations
   • Pump Tests and Slug Tests
4. Contaminant Transport
   • Advection and Dispersion
   • Sorption and Diffusive Mass Transfer
   • Aquifer Remediation
5. Vadose Zone Hydrology
   • Unsaturated Flow, Retention Curves and Richard's Equation
   • Infiltration and Evapotranspiration
6. Couples Flow and Transport
   • Density Driven Flow, Freshwater/Saltwater Interaction
   • Heat Transport and Groundwater Flow
7. The Role of Groundwater in Large-scale Water and Chemical Budgets

Started the construction process, still investigating filter options but proposed ideas include: coffee filter, florist foam, sponge/sponge-like foam.  A rough sketch is shown below:

The PVC connectors already procured may work, but will be gathering additional ones that are closer to the appropriate size as some were too large. 

Clay is a potential obstacle, however, we can make our own following some instructions found online. I will do more research and post links later, as time may be a factor with the process. 

Using this design:












Hydraulic conductivity will be tested using variations of sediments in different proportions. (if feasible, and time permitting)

The following proportions will be tested and the results compared:

95% - sand    5% - clay
90% - sand  10% - clay
80% - sand  20% - clay
75% - sand  25% - clay

Along the Mississippi River the sediment varies in different areas. This experiment will test a few variations and retro-fit the sediment make-up to regions along the river.

Links and diagrams

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/hydrogeo/lab_100.html

http://www.uic.edu/classes/cemm/cemmlab/Experiment%2010-Permeability.pdf

http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/chap12.pdf

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/ref/?cid=nrcs142p2_053573

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/103768/1/MC_2014_65_315_E028.pdf

http://www.cv.nctu.edu.tw/chinese/teacher/Ppt-pdf/AGTwk6HydraulicCon.pdf

http://people.hofstra.edu/j_b_bennington/121notes/pdfs/Porosity_Perm_Darcy.pdf

http://www.usbr.gov/pmts/geology/geolman2/Chapter17.pdf

Additional Resources - nutrient and sediment loading Mississippi River

More resources:

http://www.watersheds.org/places/extension/mississippi.htm

Ground water atlas of the US.  http://pubs.usgs.gov/ha/ha730/ch_f/F-text1.html

Estimation of Nutrient and Sediment Loading in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes Basins with Regional SPARROW Models

http://wi.water.usgs.gov/rna/9km30/

Soil Survey Link and Mississippi River maps

Web Soil Survey Link -

http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm

1) Use Area of Interest tab

2) Click the Soil Map tab

3) Click the Soil Data Explorer

4) Use the Shopping Cart tab (free)

Now click START WSS (Green button at top)

Zoom in on somewhere meaningful to you (your house, school, favorite vacation spot, etc)

Make that your area of interest  by outlining it with the AOI buttons and then follow the four steps to get your soil report.

Possible Locations along the Mississippi:

Minneapolis, MN

LaCrosse, WI

Davenport, IA

St. Louis, MO

Memphis, TN

Helena, AR

Vicksberg, MS

Vacherie, LA

 

(Rough) Plan

• Research sediment make-up of various locations along the Mississippi river
• Identify variances in sediment composition 
• Use said variances to acquire data on hydraulic conductivity in laboratory setting
• Replicate sediment make-up for each chosen location and test using simple in lab model 

       

      Ag runoff increases the nitrogen and phosphorous levels in the river. This increased nutrient ratio eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico thus creating a hypoxic zone, or dead zone. Sediment serves as a natural filter which can help keep water nutrients balanced by removing excess nitrogen and/or phosphorous. Testing the hydraulic conductivity of different sediment make-ups could allow for identifying which types of sediment may be more efficient filters. Assuming that time spent flowing through the sediment correlates with increased filtration, the sediment variation with the most efficient filtration would result in a longer time period while still allowing the water to move through freely.

     Samples from local areas may be collected (weather permitting) for testing and ratios of sediment layers based on the chosen research locations will be recreated to the approximate specifications found using (possibly) a variety of local and acquired materials.

     It is possible that extra time spent in the sediment layers may not improve the filtration, however, research and simple water testing may allow for further insight. (I have a small tester that will detect various minerals at a basic level however, the precision is not ideal). Previous studies and DNR resources may show certain sediment capabilities.

Possible sediments include: clay, sand (of various coarseness), pebbles, and several mixtures of each.    

Initial model attempt

Initial hydraulic conductivity model attempt was moderately unsuccessful.
Materials : clear, glass fish tank (41 cm x 25 cm x 29 cm), adhesive bathroom caulking (22 cm x 4 strips), flexible plastic sheeting (25 cm x 22 cm) to serve as barrier

The barrier was placed near the 20.5 cm, water and sand were added to test the ability of the apparatus to maintain separate head levels. There was evidence of seeping water behind the caulking so no data was collected.

Possible adjustments would focus on the adhesive, using a stronger silicon and possibly installing a track to allow for varying the barrier height level.
Various materials and ideas were discussed and will be revisited as time permits.

The next phase however, will include research and laboratory work to gather data for analysis. An experimental outline, materials and methods are forthcoming.  

References

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=elementary+education+model+of+hydraulic+conductivity&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=zNm3VMiMBYeiyAS2pIGwBg&ved=0CB0QgQMwAA

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/GeologyMapping.aspx

http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/wss/

http://www.iihr.uiowa.edu/igs/useful-links/

http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/WaterResources/Pages/ResMan.aspx

http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri014210/text/07_hydraulic.htm

http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri014210/text/06_data.htm

materials for an elementary class to build there own model:

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Geo_p045.shtml#materials

kids experiments: http://www.juliantrubin.com/fairprojects/earthsciences/water_geology.html

Examples - sand tank and groundwater models/testing (with pics)

 

Sand tank model - http://www.gwconsortium.org/sand-talk-model.php


 http://www.eserc.stonybrook.edu/Sayville/LIGeolConf/home.html#conductivity


http://groundwater.unl.edu/standard.shtml

Below are groundwater testing kits. Not the true direction of the project, just ideas and extra examples of what is out there.


groundwater test kit - https://en.eijkelkamp.com/products/field-measurement-equipment/hydraulic-conductivity-test-kit-model-hooghoudt.html


http://www.decagon.com/products/soils/benchtop-instruments/ums-hyprop/




http://www.in-situ.com/rentals/water-quality/handheld-systems