Fears of Drinking Water Supplies

Here is a link from the BBC website where the flooding in the SE of England has severely damaged the water supply, meaning the contaminated water supply is un-drinkable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/6910559.stm

As in the brief it mentions adapting. The one thing we have a vast supply of in water in a flood, so if we had some kind of device that could filter the contaminated water making it drinkable, that would create drinking water for many.

Bottled drinking water

As I have said before, disasters can bring us together. 420,000 people were left without water in July 2007 in Gloucestershire. Here above is an image of how drinking water was provided to the people left without clean tap water after the flooding. Although bottled water is a good solution, is it cost effective? I feel it would be not very economical and environmentally friendly doing this. So is this the best way to provide clean drinking water in times of flooding?

Tokyo Flood Tunnels - G-Cans Project

G-Cans project widely known as Tokyo underground flood tunnels is the networks of tunnels four miles long built deep under the ground in the Tokyo suburbs. This entire infrastructure is dedicated to prevent flooding when Tokyo metropolitan area rivers are overfilling during the rain seasons or in case of typhoons.

There is gigantic water tank 177 meters long and 22.4 meters high to keep water and then dump it to Edogawa River. 78 high powered pumps can pump up 200 tons of water per second.

This is an extreme flood prevention method that is a good idea in Tokyo as flooding there is a lot more common than in the UK. To build something like that in the UK would cost billions and flooding is just not s common.

The idea of the tunnels is very relevant, having somewhere much larger than the normal drainage system to allow for massive surges of flood water keeping the surface intact.

Flooding in the UK

It is safe to say that in the UK we are not as prepared for natural disasters as than in other countries where floods etc happen on a more regular basis. The SE England has been affected by flooding over the past few years, thousands of people have been left homeless, and still are not back to their home to this date. Drinking water is a basic need and when something like flooding takes place it can be hard to find.

Disasters bring people together as there is no level of wealth. Everyone is equal. Whoever has the most expensive car is not a priority anymore. It’s back to basics. Food and water are the main thing on everybody’s mind. Water is provided in large ugly containers, people have to go to the end on the street or neighbourhood to the tank for water, they no longer can push the tap for water.

Balmoral Plastics - Micro Project

Balmoral plastics are a firm who rely on rotational moulding to achieve their products. They produce a number of products ranging from grit bins to large fuel tanks.

In this project we are looking at our climate we live in and how it is ever changing. Climate change will affect us all at some point if it has not already. It may be more than just environmental issues but could be social through to economic and ecological issues.

Key words

Climate Change

To me climate change can be more than the obvious. Pollution is the first thing that comes to mind, factories pumping fumes into the atmosphere, as well as that, cars producing high levels of co2 emissions. These are just two small examples, but they are leading to changes in the environment. Changes like drought and flooding in paces never known to be affected by these issues before. Things are being done; these issues are not going unnoticed. Cars for example are becoming more and more eco friendly, producing less and less co2 gases, with also hybrid cars starting to make an impact.

Storage

Storage is a word that’s meaning can be used across the board. We create storage space to store objects and positions, memories and thoughts, food and water. Storage has endless examples.
Storage of intangible objects

· Memory
· Thoughts
· Music
· Video
· Pictures
· Documents
· Time

The list could go on. The introduction to digital media devices have transformed the way be use and create information, with these digital devices becoming smaller and lighter. On a greater scale can these digital devices help the changing environment?
Storage of tangible objects

· Water
· Food
· Cars
· Money
· Books

As for the intangible objects the list is endless with tangible objects. Can we use any of these storage methods to help us in a time of need? Could we use the concept of an egg holding a unborn chick for something else?

Design for manufacture

In the design process there are many processes and steps to take before the final stage is reached. To help in the manufacturing stage there are many elements which should be incorporated into the design, "Efficiency" being the key. Especially with the economical situation we are in at the moment, efficient design as ever more needed.

The use of virtual prototyping is a great way to simulate what the final product will look like, before any real modelling has been started. There are no material costs and no machining costs. As I was talking above about digital devises, this may be the way that “digital” can help us in the changing climate.

NCR - Selfish self service Visual

NCR - Selfish self service Concepts

Four concepts were created on rhino-

1. Joy stick – gloves can be worn, easy to use
2. 4 Button – gloves can be worn, hard to understand
3. 3 Button – gloves can be worn, easy to use, small screen because large buttons
4. Touch screen – gloves could not be worn, large screen

The joy stick was the design that was best suited for the map/pass so i took that further and made a mock up.

The interface for the device will have various different services from position on the map, weather forecast and area covered.