Natural Water Filtering Martha Motoyama Waubonsie Valley High School
Acknowledgments This project and presentation would not be possible without the help of my teachers, Ms. Kennedy, Ms. Colin, my parents, and Mr. Randy L. Vanderwerf for answering all of the endless questions that I had throughout this project.
Purpose The purpose of this experiment is to determine how charcoal, sand and gravel affects how clean water becomes when used as a filter. The control group would be using no filter at all and doing nothing to the water. The dependent variable would be a grayscale that can compare to water in order to see how clean the water becomes after trials.
Hypothesis If charcoal is most commonly used as a drinking water filter, then charcoal is probably the best water filter because charcoal absorbs bacteria, thoroughly cleans the water and catches small particles in the water thus filtering the water. I also think that gravel will not filter the water the best because the dirt water will just go through the space between the gravel.
Background Information Percolation: Slow movement of water through the pores in soil, permeable rock and other natural filters that filter the water. Filter: Porous substance that allows liquids to pass through but catches or retains small particles, filtering the liquid. More than half of the United States drinks groundwater daily.
Importance of Filters In a recent study of tap water in America, it showed that contaminants in the drinking water have been linked to health problems including cancer and learning disorders. Other contaminants can also be found in water including other contaminants like microbes, (including viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) lead, radon, radium, nitrates, arsenic, pesticides and byproducts of the disinfection process.
Charcoal Absorbs impurities in the water. Removes unwanted chemicals, unwanted colors, flavors and odors from the water Filters some pathogens but will quickly use up the filter absorbing ability. Can contribute to contamination because the charcoal provides a breeding ground for bacteria and algae.
Sand One of the oldest water treatments known. Two types of sand filtration: Slow sand filtration and rapid sand filtration. Slow sand filtration removes small particles in the water through adsorption and straining. Very reliable, but a very slow process. Rapid sand filtration is not part of the purification process in rapid sand filtration like slow sand filtration. Removes impurities and remnants of flocculation in most municipal water treatment plants.
Gravel Lightweight, porous, has lots of crevasses giving it an excellent surface area for bacteria to colonize. Traps small bugs, sediments and any other large particles found in water. Allows some contaminants like microorganisms and industrial chemicals to get through Normally used for fish tanks
Materials 0 Empty Water Bottles 1 Bag of Kingsford Charcoal 1 Bag of Playsand 1 Bag of Aquarium Gravel 0 Cups of Dirty water 1 Online timer 1 Grayscale 1 Sharpie 5 White 0% Cotton T-Shirts 1 Scissors 1 Pencil 1 Measuring Tape
Grayscale 1 3 4 5 11 1 13 14 15 1
For Filtering: 1. Obtain materials Procedure.Cut water bottles so that bottom half is cm. And top half is 13 cm, including the cap. 3. Poke a mm hole through cap, cover with small cotton cloth 4. Fill top with either charcoal, gravel, or sand 5. Pour dirt water into water. Compare filtered water to Grayscale and record. Repeat times.
Score Y Charcoal Comparison 1 14 1 Charcoal 1 Charcoal Charcoal 3 4 0 1 3 4 5 Number of Trials 11 X Charcoal 3 Charcoal Charcoal 1
Score Y Sand Comparison 1 14 14 14 14 1 1 11 13 13 13 14 13 1 13 14 13 13 1 13 13 13 13 SAND 1 SAND 5 5 SAND 3 4 0 1 3 4 5 Number of Trials 11 SAND 3 SAND SAND 1 X
Score Y Gravel Comparison 1 14 1 5 5 11 13 11 11 14 1 1 14 15 14 13 13 14 13 13 13 13 GRAVEL 1 GRAVEL GRAVEL 3 4 0 1 3 4 5 Number of Trials 11 X GRAVEL 3 GRAVEL GRAVEL 1
Control 1 14 1 Control 4 0 1 3 4 5 11 Control
Score Average Score Comparison 1 14 1. 1.33 11 13. 14 13 13 13.33 13 13. 1 1.33 13..33..33...33..33.33.33.33 Sand Gravel Charcoal 5.33 5.33 Control 4 0 1 3 4 5 Number of Trials 11 Control Charcoal Gravel Sand
Data Table
Average
Results After conducting this experiment the results showed that gravel filtered the water the best, scoring an average of 14, even though it took the longest to filter the water. The next best filter was sand, scoring an average of 13., filtering the water the second fastest. The last filter was charcoal with an average score of.
Errors Forgot to wash my charcoal, which resulted in black water. Used normal charcoal instead of activated charcoal.
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