Log 4 - MP3 - 29 February 2012

What we are accomplishing

- Finished the 96 hour testing period at the career center

- We are going to test the samples we gathered from the testing period

What Problems we are experiencing

- I'm having trouble locating a 10.5V solar panel.

What direction we are heading in

- Looking for a solution to the UV problems

- Wrapping up the rest of the project

Germicidal UV Radiation from the Sun and Evaporation

I did some research into how long water has to sit in the sun in order for the sun's germicidal UV radiation to clean it.  To my surprise, water needs only 6 hours in the sun to kill pathogens (2 days if the sky is cloudy).  I do not know how well using the sun would work for this project, because I am unsure as to how far the light would penetrate the water, and due to the shape of the barrel during certain portions of the day sunlight might not reach the water.
I then realized that when water evaporates, the pathogens do not evaporate with the water.  Therefore, the water that flows into the storage tank is already free of pathogens, and the UV light becomes obsolete.  However, the unit will still have UV light to act as a fail safe.

These websites are what led me to these conclusions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainwater_tank
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection

LED germicidal UV Lights

I did some research into LED germicidal UV Lights, because an LED would require much less electricity than a regular germicidal UV light.  Unfortunately, LED germicidal UV Lights are a relatively new technology, are not easily available, this American Air and Water says "However at this time there is no UV LED equipment that can compete with the high output UV lamps in real world production conditions."  LED germicidal UV Lights are therefore, not the best course of action, and I will continue using regular germicidal UV Lights.

Log 3 - MP3 - 14 February 2012

What we are accomplishing

- Constructed email to Atlantic Ultraviolet

 - Researching the possibility that the UV light was DC or AC while the Solar panel was the other

 - Looking for other sources of UV radiation that would come with a fixture (e.g. a nail curer, which runs on batteries and a cord, but unfortunately, is not germicidal), to avoid the problems I am experiencing

What Problems we are experiencing

- I am unable to run the UV light, looking into possible reasons why

- I need a solar panel and a UV light

What direction we are heading in

- Looking for a solution to the UV problems

Log 2 - MP3 - 09 February 2012

What we are accomplishing
- Called 1000bulbs.com, unfortunately, they were unable to answer my questions.
- Received information about Atlantic Ultraviolet, who are more focused on ultraviolet, and can probably better answer my questions.

What Problems we are experiencing
- I am unable to run the UV light, and am unsure why.
- I need a solar panel and a UV light.

What direction we are heading in
- I am trying to finish our construction, and am preparing for testing.

Log 1 - MP3 - 06 February 2012

What we are accomplishing
- We have located a facility that will allow us to test the Unit

What Problems we are experiencing
- Our biggest problem is that we are unable to run the UV light, and we are unsure why.
- Our second problem is that we still don't have a solar panel.

What direction we are heading in
- We are trying to finish up our construction, and we are preparing for our testing.