Irrigation Project
Project Summary:
In this project, I designed an irrigation system for the balcony of my parents' home. At the twist of a valve, a light wave of water washes over the balcony's surface, washing away dust, dirt, and dog urine.
The Task:
The main purpose of this system is to wash away dog urine. On hot summer days, my parents let my dog out on the balcony of my house and let her use the bathroom there. As a result of this, though, if we don't bring a gallon of water over manually to wash away the urine puddle, it invariably attracts large black flies. In order to make this process easier, I set out to create a mechanism that stores larger amounts of water at a time and makes the process of washing away dog urine easier.
Design Process
To start the project, I looked at the materials available to me, which basically means anything that can be found in a Home Depot. I visited the hardware store to examine the kinds of components I could expect to work with. After that, I took measurements of my balcony and created drawings in AutoCAD to model the path and shape of the eventual piping system that would transport water from the basin to the pipes.
The Build
My workspace was the garage of my parents' home. The components I used included 3/4" PVC pipe (straight sections and 90-degree joints), a PVC ball valve, PVC cement, a slip bulkhead fitting, a large plastic bucket, and an old nightstand. The tools available to me included a hacksaw, a rubber mallet, an adjustable wrench, and a hand drill. I found all of these components either in my own home or at Home Depot with the exception of the slip bulkhead. The bulkhead was a more specific component that I had to order off of Amazon and was critical to the design to seal the side of the bucket.
The Final Product
The finished product operates according to design consistently during daily use by my family. There are no leaks, and water flow is even across the balcony's surface. There is enough water in the bucket for approximately three or four rinses, and the bucket is easily filled using a water spigot.
Next Steps?
After a year's use, one problem has emerged. A leak had sprung somewhere near the water basin and the ball valve.
Upon inspection, the problem was diagnosed. The leaked was located at the plastic bulkhead, and the rubber seal was evidently insufficient to keep a tight enough seal. During initial assembly of the system, a circular hole needed to be cut in the side of the bucket. However, since I had access to very few sophisticated tools, the hole had to be created using a knife and a file. This caused the hole to be rather jagged and uneven. As a result, this created a weaker seal when the bulkhead was installed. To remedy this, I simply applied some sealant in the form of PVC glue between the bulkhead and the exterior of the bucket.
The location of the leak
Reinforced with sealant