Experimentation of Evaporation Suppression by Various Plastic Bottles Coverage Area

Abstract

Evaporation significantly affects the loss of water in reservoir. The effective use of water-surface covering materials for evaporation reduction purpose is commercially performed including plastic spherical and circular shapes. This study initiates to reuse very common polyethylene terephthalate (PET) drinking-water bottles to cover water surface instead. The bottle shape could have a covering percentage ratio as much as 91% equal to a commercial ball or circular disk. The experiment was designed and conducted to prove the reduction of water evaporation rate using five simulated ponds. The testing aspect is the percentage of the coverage area over the water surface. Based on environmental impact concern, the deterioration of PET bottles due to hydrolysis reaction and ultraviolet rays in natural conditions is also investigated. The initial result from the experiment shows that PET bottles have a potential for the evaporation reduction which are a very cost-effective alternative to the existing commercial materials and help support the reuse of plastic waste.