For my 20 Time project, I challenged myself to develop a chemical which can make regular concrete pervious. My goals were realistic and although I did stray from my timeline, I still finished. My plan was to spread the experiment over 6 weeks, but I ended up buying my materials just 2 weeks before the deadline. As soon as I got my materials though, I created a plan to make sure the testing gets done before the project is due.
I think my plan was a success. Out of the 13 chemicals I tested, about 6 worked well. However, I only chose to retest 3 because the others were unrealistic to use in the real world or weren't very efficient. When retesting, I put a metal can (open on both sides) and sealed the base with wax. I then poured water into the can so it's resting on the concrete. Some water did drip through the sealant, but I watched the apparatus to make sure water wasn't cheating by entering the bucket from the sides rather than from through the concrete. One of the chemicals, gyspum dissolved in water, yielded 55ml of water. Considering that some of the 250ml had dripped outside of the bucket, the treated concrete had about a 30% efficiency.
I came into this project expecting basically nothing. I knew my idea was great, but I doubted that it would work. But when I got positive results, I realized that I might be on to something. I decided to team up with a friend from my old school and submit the project to Google Science Fair. The project is due in a week, and we are almost done with our written essays. If I have free time, I might put together a video with all the images and footage I captured while experimenting. In conclusion, I feel that my 20 Time project was really fun as well as successful, but I am still at the tip of the iceberg. Although the due date for Google Science Fair is coming up soon, I will spend some time this summer developing concoctions of gypsum and vinegar (my highest performing chemicals) and testing them.
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