So for this last phase, I doubled up two aspects of the prototype: Look/Feel and Role. For these, I build an exploded 3D model, showing how the different parts can be disassembled. I felt I needed to do this for two different reasons. First being that one of the requirements I have for this project is portability, so I need to know how it will break down and pack. Second being, if I do this I basically have a shopping list already taken care of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
For tech, however, I exchanged a few emails with Matt Bentley, who recommended me Kyle Thompson’s recent PhD dissertation on biochar used to filter water at William’s Village. Which I have been doing my best to read through, but it’s also a 245 page document, so even skimming has been pretty slow. Matt did give me a few specific chapters to get started, so I’m focusing there first. The long and short of what I’ve found out seems to be that wood based biochar is more sustainable than activated carbon, but I can’t seem to figure out if it’s just as effective. Overall if it’s even a little effective it should probably be used in place of the non-sustainable version.