SpringBoxDesignandConstruction CE5993

Acknowledgment: LaurenFry Civil&EnvironmentalEngineering MichiganTechnologicalUniversity

UnprotectedSpring

Figure1.UnprotectedspringinthevillageofBilikBikot,Cameroon.Before construction i of fthe h springbox, i b the h spring i waterwasallowed ll dtocollect ll in i this hi openpool.Waterstagnated,peoplewereabletodipdirtybucketsinthepool, andthespringwasamosquitobreedingarea.

WaterRelatedDiseases

(Cairncross andFeachem,1993)

ChoosingaSpring
Whypeoplechooseaspecificsource:
Waterlookscleanerandtastesbetter. Itiscloserthanothersources. Theflowisconstantandsufficient.

Otherconsiderations:
Actualwaterquality(bacteriafree?Taste,odor) Ability yforwatertodrain Reliabilitythroughdryseason Accessibility y

PreparationoftheSpring

Atypicalarrangementofanunimprovedspring.Toprepareforspringbox construction,theimpermeablelayerofsandorsoilshouldberemovedat thespringpool,downtotheimpermeablelayer.

SpringBoxDesign:ProfileView

(Filtermaybeomittedfromdesign.)

SpringBoxDesign:PlanView

(Filtermaybeomittedfromdesign.)

SlowSandFiltration
Foraslowsandfiltertofunction,thesandshouldhavean effectivegrainsizeof0.15to0.30mmanduniformity coefficient(D60/D10)lessthan5.
D60isthesievesizethatallows60%ofthesandtopassand D10i isth thesieve i size i th that tallows ll 10%t topass.

Minimumheightofthesandlayershouldbe0.5m,andthe rateoffiltrationshouldbenofasterthan0.1to0.2 m3/m / 2/h(Visscher (Vi h et tal, l 1987) 1987). Forafiltrationrateof0.1m/hthroughacleanfilter,the minimumheadoverthefilteris5cm(Tchobanoglous and B t 2003). Burton, 2003) Evenwithasmallspringoutputlike1.7L/min,thesurface areaofthefiltermuststillbeatleast1.0m2.

RapidSandFiltration
Filtermaybeomittedtosavemoney, money orasa compromise,rapidsandfiltrationmaybe used. used Forrapidfiltration,verycoarsesandorsmall gravelisused used. Inthiscasethefilterisdesignedtobe approximately i l 0.5 0 5mlong l by b 1.5 1 5mwide id by b 1 mhigh,withfiltermediaheightof0.4m.

Reservoir
Thereservoirshouldbesizedbasedontheoutputof th sourcein the i order d to t maximize i i the th amount tof fwater t thatisstoredovernight.
Forexample, p ,ifaspring p ghasamaximumoutput p of6L/min, / , assumingthatnoonedrawswaterbetween6:30pmand5:30am (11hoursoffilling),thereservoirsizewouldbe3.96m3. Sizemayberestrictedbyavailablematerialsandfunds,however.

Reservoirwallsaremadeofsteelreinforcedconcrete. Floorshouldbeslopedandmadewithsmoothed concrete. Allsurfacesinsidethereservoirshouldbesmoothed t allow to ll f foreasier i cleaning. l i

TypicalConstructionBudget

TypicalConstructionBudget

TypicalMaintenanceSchedule

Itisvery yimportant p thatthecommunity yandmanagement g committeeare educatedandtrainedontheimportanceofmaintenancesotheproject issustainableinthelongterm.

MeasuringSpringDischarge

Weirusedtodeterminetheoutputofthesprings.Awelderwas hiredtoproducethisweirfromaflatpieceofmetalroofingmaterial. material Allyieldandheadmarkingswerealsoengravedonthemetal (MannandWilliamson,1973).

Construction

(Filtersize limitedby materials.)

TypicalConstructionSchedule

CompletedSpringbox

CompletedSpringbox

Overflowpipebendsdowntopreventchildrenfrombreakingit.

CommonConstructionProblems
Accidentallydiggingthroughtheimpermeablelayermaycause watertobelostfromthespring spring. Whenfillingthewoodenformswithconcrete,unevenpressuremay causethewallstograduallytiltduringplacement. Whenfillingtheprimaryfiltrationandcapturearea area,thereisa possibilityforblockingtheveinsaugmentingthespring.Besure thattheveinsarenotblockedbymud. Covering C i the th primary i filtration filt ti and dcapture t areawith ithearth thafter ft it isfilledwithrocksmaybeappropriateinsomeplaces,butwhere soilisveryfine,theearthmayendupfilteringthroughtherocks and dbl blocking k the h gravel ll layerentrance.Inthis h case,the h primary filtrationandcaptureareacanbefilledwithrocksandcoveredwith aplastictarporotherimpermeablematerialbeforecoveringwith earth.

References
Cairncross, S., and R.G. Feachem. Environmental Health Engineering in the Tropics: an Introductory Text, Second Edition. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1993. Fry, L. "Spring Improvement as a Tool for Prevention of Water-Related Illness in Four Villages of the Center Province of Cameroon," M.S. Report, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 137 pages, 2004. Fry, y, L., , J.R. Mihelcic, , D.W. Watkins, , Improving p g public p health by y improving p g water supply: pp y results from springbox projects in Cameroon. Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Development: Energy, Environment, Health, 2006. Huisman L., De Azevedo Netto J.M., Sundaresan B.B., Lanoix J.N., and Hofkes E.H. Small Community Water Supplies: Technology of Small Water Supply Systems in Developing Countries. IRC Technical Paper Series #18. The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, 1981. Tchobanoglous, G. and F. L. Burton. Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Reuse. Metcalf & Eddy. Eddy Boston: McGraw Hill, Hill 2003. 2003 Visscher J.T., Paramasiram R., Raman A., and Heijnen H.A. Slow Sand Filtration for Community Water Supply: planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Technical Paper Series #24. The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and S i i Centre, Sanitation C 1987 1987.