Membrane separation is a water purification technology that can be used to remove contaminants from surface waters. The specific contaminants of interest are ions and trace organic contaminants. Different surface water sources can have different contaminants or properties, called water chemistry. This research is on the impact of different water chemistries on membrane performance removing trace organic contaminants. One way to characterize the water chemistry is by measuring the conductivity which is related to the ion concentration in the water. The 3D-printed part is being used to keep the water samples stable while the conductivity measurement is taking place. It provides a base for a test tube with a circular cutout at the bottom to prevent suction. It is designed to make your test tube sit similarly to a graduated cylinder. This item was designed in OpenSCAD. Variables at the beginning of the code allow for simple adjustment of overall material thickness, cup diameter, cup height, brim diameter, and through-hole diameter.

This base can convert a test tube into a graduated cylinder for $0.16 (estimated using price of 9g of PLA filament) while Sigma-Aldrich offers graduated cylinders anywhere between $3 - 250+ (minimum of 94.7% cost savings).

 

Link to Sigma-Aldrich pricing: https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/search?term=graduated%20cylinders&interface=All&N=0&mode=match%20partialmax&lang=en&region=US&focus=product