Week 3 (Outside Lab) - Purchasing Materials

Figure 1. Gathered project materials after shopping.

The team took a trip to Wal-Mart and Home Depot to buy the materials listed from yesterday, and was able to acquire most of what was needed. The purchased items are described below:

• AquaTech Power Head submersible aquarium pump, 170 gph, $21.52. This pump has a suction cup that allows it to stick to the side of a container, which could potentially be very convenient for the water reservoir. It has a few more features than strictly necessary for this project, but was the only pump with both an input and an output.
• Grounded electric receptacle (AC outlet), $1.57. 
• PVC electric box for wiring the outlet, $1.47.
• 20' vinyl tubing, 1/4" outer diameter, $3.11.
• 3/8" inner diameter barbed nylon tee (for splitting water flow from one input to two outputs), $2.41.

A starter breadboard kit also arrived in the mail, so the team is in a good position to get a lot of work done in lab tomorrow. Still needed are a wall wart for supplying power in the long term (the Arduino should work using a USB connection for now), and a water reservoir.