Stem-202 Group Project 5

Participants: Meg Adiya, Evelyn Cabrera Hernandez, Laiyalee Santana
Course: STEM Scholars’ Research Lab II, STEM-202-HN01
Professor: Jane Jones
Assignment Title: Evaluating How Glass Sand Impacts Water Infiltration Rates with Gravel Pavers

Assignment Details

This project aims to improve water infiltration speed in gravel pavers by using recycled glass sand. We did this by creating an experiment with gravel pavers in which we changed the layering of the recycled glass sand, gravel, and pea gravel to determine which layering arrangement improved water infiltration most effectively. Each material was 1″ in thickness, and 5 gallons of water was poured into each bed. We then observed how long it took for the water to flow underneath the first layer, which was the gravel paver. The order of each garden bed’s layering is from bottom to top:

• Garden bed #1: fabric, crushed stone, paver, pea gravel, and no sand.
• Garden bed #2: fabric, crushed stone, sand, paver, and pea gravel.
• Garden bed #3: fabric, sand, crushed stone, paver, and pea gravel.
• Garden bed #4: fabric, crushed stone, paver, pea gravel, and sand.

Application

Traditional pavement is impervious; thus, when the water travels along the pavement, it collects pollutants that find their way into drainage systems, eventually reaching crucial waterways. This process is otherwise known as urban runoff. This type of pavement contributes not only to runoff and water pollution, but also flooding and the urban heat island effect, causing higher temperatures in urbanized areas. Implementing an alternative to regular pavement is imperative for the health of the environment.

A sustainable substitute for these surfaces is permeable pavement. This technology is purposefully designed to allow water to flow through it and reach the soil underneath. There are a variety of types of permeable pavement, such as pervious concrete, porous asphalt, and interlocking pavers. Permeable surfaces can reduce the need for stormwater management, flooding, runoff, and water pollution.

Results/Conclusions

After conducting multiple trials on each garden bed, it was concluded that recycled glass sand does not increase the infiltration speed of water in permeable pavement. On average, the water flowed underneath the paver in the first garden bed the fastest. However, the infiltration time for the water in the garden beds with recycled glass sand was not significantly longer. The difference was 1-2 minutes

Challenges and Successes

Major Issue: Leaking

Garden beds 2, 3, and 4 were leaking from the corner bolts. We took out 3 bolts from all 4 garden beds to control the water rate for all of the beds. We used trash bags to direct the water into the bins. By doing so, all the water was captured and not lost to leakage.