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
I used a sand tank in grad school. the pumping wells mess up the flow for what we're trying to study and they are EXPENSIVE. We want to think really simple set-up, so we can get to the experiments and be accessible to lots of people using them.
ReplyDeleteWe don't plan to deal with bio clogging, but the idea of cameras and flowing through sand is relevant.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016977221200068X
Sounds good, I was just trying to get some pictures to visualize a basic layout to see if I could construct one that could serve the same purpose using different materials.
ReplyDeleteIdeas:
an old fish tank could possibly be modified to create the model that had two sides and the water flowed under a barrier between. A grade-school teacher could scale it down to a small plastic tank, they cost very little and the barrier could be created out of any number of recyclables.
Constructing a tank out of plexi-glass seems doable also, I have a large sheet of it already that could be cut and using silicon, create our own box?
Glass cutters are also available at the hardware store and I plan to pick one up this weekend and try to cut one of those glass milk jugs to see if that would work.
I figured if I went at this from various angles I would be more likely to find the best method for our purposes. I plan to search my workshop and see what materials I have around, and continue searching for other examples. I hope to have something built and ready to set-up by early next week.
I have a really dirty 10 gallon aquarium in my garage that you could play with. Getting it clean enough to use would be annoying (it was covered in Algae). Do you want me to bring it in tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteIf the glass cutter is something you want to own anyway, go for it. Be careful with sharp glass, etc. Wear safety glasses.
People have different ways of working that work for them. It sounds like you're happy to jump in and make stuff, which is great as long as you're ok with building some stuff that may not work that well and redesigning it as we go. This way will probably be the quickest way to figure it out as long as you're just using cheap replaceable materials.
I'll be very impressed if you can get something working by next week.