Category PH P24 Sensible Sandbags

Abstract Through my project, I wanted to find which material, inside a sandbag,

would soak up the most water. In my experiment I placed bags inside of

halved PVC pipe and poured two cups of water down it. The excess

water not soaked up went into a tub at the bottom. During the first trial,

gravel did not soak up 1.75 cups of water of 2 poured down the tube. In

the second trial it didn’t soak up 1.75, and the same results came from the

third trial. The average of all three trials was 1.75 cups. The next was

sand. The first trial left .75 cups, the second left 1.75 cups, and the third

left 1.5 cups. Its average is 1.33 cups. The third was dirt. The first trial left

1.5 cups, the second left 1.25 cups, and the third left 1 cup. Its average

was 1.33 cups. The fourth was moss. The first trial left 2 cups, the

second left 1.75 cups and the third left 1.75 cups. Its average was 1.83

cups. The last material that I tested was mulch. The first trial left 1.5 cups,

the second left 1.5 cups and the third left 1.25 cups. Its average was

1.416 cups. From best to worst, the materials went from, dirt, sand, mulch,

gravel, moss. My most important conclusions are that mulch and moss let

water pass right through, gravel dams the water, and dirt and sand were

the only materials to soak water up.

Bibliography "How to Use Sandbags." Walla Walla District -- How To Use Sandbags.

02/16/2006. Walla Walla District. 30 Dec 2008

<http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/html/offices/op/em/HowToBag.htm>.



"Sandbag Barrier." Sandbag Barrier Montana NRCS. 12/18/2008. United

States Department of Agriculture. 30 Dec 2008

<http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/fires/sandbag.html>.



"Using Sandbags When Threatened by Floodwater." 2003. Riverside

County Fire Department. 30 Dec 2008

<http://www.rvcfire.org/opencms/_topnav/contactus.html>.
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