Water Filter Testing
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Science Concept & Application
The first filter I got was a two liter bottle and cut off the bottom of it and poked holes in the lid. After that I layered cotton balls, crushed charcoal, fine sand, coarse sand, fine sand again, gravel, and cheesecloth. Every layer in the filter is very important and has a use. I filtered two hundred grams of dirty water and let it filter for a week but it dried up and I had to re-filter another one hundred grams of water but only let it filter for a day.
The second filter consisted of two solo cups, a piece of cloth, and something to elevate the cup with the dirty water. With this filter I did the same thing starting with two hundred grams of the first sample of dirty water. This filter did filter faster than the first one however the water dried up almost completely after the first week and I knew I would have to repeat this one once the first filter was done. What went wrong? First I let the first bit of filtered water set for too long and it dried up. Secondly I used dirty filters, I didn't clean the filters between trials which contaminated the water. Third I squeezed the water out of the filters which caused the debris to get into the water. Fourth when boiling the water I let it boil for too long causing it to boil off a bit. And Fifth I had dropped the first filter and mixed some of the layers by mistake which caused the filtering to not work as well. |
Career
One in ten people don't have clean, safe water, water quality specialists help those people get access to safe water. Water quality specialists sample water and test the pollution levels as well as conduct environmental impact and water flow. Water quality specialists will also analyze water and see what needs to happen to make the water safe to drink. Water filtration isn't simple and some water has bacteria in it that is very difficult to kill but there are ways to make water drinkable.
Water quality specialist must test the pollution of water and determine what needs to happen to make that water safe for nearby residents. They don’t always have nice water filters and have to come up with quick salutations on how to ensure the water is safe, even if you make a water filter it's not always safe to drink and you shouldn’t use it for a long term solution, Water quality specialists will try to come up with a solution that has little to no environmental impact as most who work in this field are trying to help the environment and the people who live in it. Scientist
Not just one scientist contributed to water filtration and lots contributed to how we filter water today. In the mid-1700s Joseph Army patented the first water filter which was made of a sponge, wool, and charcoal layers that the water would filter through, and in 1750 the first water filter was available to buy. Joseph wasn’t a scientist but he started the movement for more scientists to start studying water and his achievements should be recognized.
In 1854 when a cholera outbreak started to spread, the physician John Snow was able to demonstrate how cholera was able to contaminate drinking water and spread through there. John Snow was able to identify the pipes where the water was being contaminated. John Snow originally thought that cholera and the plague was spread through the air, he did look at water under the microscope and although he didn't see anything his previous studies of disease was enough to persuade the public that it was in the water. |
Essay
In my water filtration experiment I tested out two different filters and dirty water to see what works the best and how well it filters. I tested the water before and after the experiment, I will also be seeing how much of the weight was lost from the original and the final water. The water filter I will be doing is filtering through a piece of cloth and then boiling and a multi layered filter and then boiling the water after, I will test the water before and after boiling it to see how much that helps and why we tend to boil water when filtering it.
The first filter I got was a two liter bottle and cut off the bottom of it and poked holes in the lid. After that I layered cotton balls, crushed charcoal, fine sand, coarse sand, fine sand again, gravel, and cheesecloth. The cheesecloth is to filter all the larger objects, same with the gravel. After that the sand will filter through then the coarse sand catches anything that got through and then the third layer of sand is to filter everything again. The charcoal and cotton are the final fine filters that make sure everything is caught in the filter. Every layer in the filter is very important and has a use.
After the filter was made I mixed tap water with the gravel which made the water very murky. I tested the water and saw that chemical wise it was fine but the water had a very high pH. I then measured out two hundred grams of the dirty water and poured it into the filter.I checked the filter every day for a week but after the week was up it still wasn’t fully filtered so I left it for another week. Once the week was up I checked the filter and when I did I realized that the water had dried up.
I needed to find a solution so I found some water outside and tested it, it was fine again except for the pH. I wasn’t able to remake the filter or clean it so I decided to put 100 grams of the dirty water into the filter and hoped for the best.
I let the water filter for twenty-four hours but the water wasn't fully filtered so I tried to squeeze some water out of the cotton which you shouldn't do. After attempting that I measured the water and I only got four grams of water out of the filter, a ninety-six percent loss in water. With the low amount of water I wasn't able to fully get the water testing strip to test properly, but with the look of the water it seemed fine other than a small amount of sand.
I had to boil the water to kill any bacteria that might have been in the water. For the experiment I attempted to boil the four grams of water but not surprisingly the water immediately boiled off.
The second filter was simpler than the first one, it consisted of two solo cups, a piece of cloth, and something to elevate the cup with the dirty water so all the water would fully filter through. With this filter I did the same thing starting with two hundred grams of the first sample of dirty water. This filter did filter faster than the first one however the water dried up almost completely after the first week and I knew I would have to repeat this one once the first filter was done.
I retried this experiment after the water had dried up, I used one hundred grams of the new sample of dirty water and left it for twenty four hours. After twenty four hours almost all the water was filtered but to attempt to get more water I squeezed the water out of the cloth which got some debris in the clean water.
I tested the water sample and the pH had gone down to a safe level but was still relatively high. After filtering I got twenty four grams of water, a seventy six percent water loss. I boiled the water and after that only six grams of water was left, although it was technically safe to drink I wouldn't recommend unless absolutely necessary.
If you were lost and didn't have water I would recommend trying to find water that you see animals drinking from and if you are worried about bacteria boil it and try to filter out the debris through a piece of cloth as that is faster than both of the filters.
What went wrong? First I let the first bit of filtered water set for too long and it dried up causing me to lose all that important information about the water filter. Secondly I used dirty filters, I didn't clean the filters between trials which contaminated the water and the information. Third I squeezed the water out of the filters which caused the debris to get into the water which defeats the purpose of the filter. Fourth when boiling the water I let it boil for too long causing it to boil off a bit. And Fifth I had dropped the first filter and mixed some of the layers by mistake which caused the filtering to not be as good.
The first filter took a long time to set up and took a lot of resources which when in a situation where you would need to make a homemade water filter you probably won't have access to these items and of you did you most likely won't want to wasted it on a water filter that isn't much better than just boiling the water. This filter did not work as well as I had hoped for however it did show me that a complicated filter isn't necessary most of the time.
The second filter surprisingly worked really well. It was able to filter the debris relatively fast however I feel like you could do it a lot after other ways but if you have water with a lot of sand or smaller objects this filter is perfect. This filter is very fast when using the right thing like a thin rag or even a paper towel.
These filters work but are time consuming and take resources you might not have if you are in need of a homemade water filter.
The first filter I got was a two liter bottle and cut off the bottom of it and poked holes in the lid. After that I layered cotton balls, crushed charcoal, fine sand, coarse sand, fine sand again, gravel, and cheesecloth. The cheesecloth is to filter all the larger objects, same with the gravel. After that the sand will filter through then the coarse sand catches anything that got through and then the third layer of sand is to filter everything again. The charcoal and cotton are the final fine filters that make sure everything is caught in the filter. Every layer in the filter is very important and has a use.
After the filter was made I mixed tap water with the gravel which made the water very murky. I tested the water and saw that chemical wise it was fine but the water had a very high pH. I then measured out two hundred grams of the dirty water and poured it into the filter.I checked the filter every day for a week but after the week was up it still wasn’t fully filtered so I left it for another week. Once the week was up I checked the filter and when I did I realized that the water had dried up.
I needed to find a solution so I found some water outside and tested it, it was fine again except for the pH. I wasn’t able to remake the filter or clean it so I decided to put 100 grams of the dirty water into the filter and hoped for the best.
I let the water filter for twenty-four hours but the water wasn't fully filtered so I tried to squeeze some water out of the cotton which you shouldn't do. After attempting that I measured the water and I only got four grams of water out of the filter, a ninety-six percent loss in water. With the low amount of water I wasn't able to fully get the water testing strip to test properly, but with the look of the water it seemed fine other than a small amount of sand.
I had to boil the water to kill any bacteria that might have been in the water. For the experiment I attempted to boil the four grams of water but not surprisingly the water immediately boiled off.
The second filter was simpler than the first one, it consisted of two solo cups, a piece of cloth, and something to elevate the cup with the dirty water so all the water would fully filter through. With this filter I did the same thing starting with two hundred grams of the first sample of dirty water. This filter did filter faster than the first one however the water dried up almost completely after the first week and I knew I would have to repeat this one once the first filter was done.
I retried this experiment after the water had dried up, I used one hundred grams of the new sample of dirty water and left it for twenty four hours. After twenty four hours almost all the water was filtered but to attempt to get more water I squeezed the water out of the cloth which got some debris in the clean water.
I tested the water sample and the pH had gone down to a safe level but was still relatively high. After filtering I got twenty four grams of water, a seventy six percent water loss. I boiled the water and after that only six grams of water was left, although it was technically safe to drink I wouldn't recommend unless absolutely necessary.
If you were lost and didn't have water I would recommend trying to find water that you see animals drinking from and if you are worried about bacteria boil it and try to filter out the debris through a piece of cloth as that is faster than both of the filters.
What went wrong? First I let the first bit of filtered water set for too long and it dried up causing me to lose all that important information about the water filter. Secondly I used dirty filters, I didn't clean the filters between trials which contaminated the water and the information. Third I squeezed the water out of the filters which caused the debris to get into the water which defeats the purpose of the filter. Fourth when boiling the water I let it boil for too long causing it to boil off a bit. And Fifth I had dropped the first filter and mixed some of the layers by mistake which caused the filtering to not be as good.
The first filter took a long time to set up and took a lot of resources which when in a situation where you would need to make a homemade water filter you probably won't have access to these items and of you did you most likely won't want to wasted it on a water filter that isn't much better than just boiling the water. This filter did not work as well as I had hoped for however it did show me that a complicated filter isn't necessary most of the time.
The second filter surprisingly worked really well. It was able to filter the debris relatively fast however I feel like you could do it a lot after other ways but if you have water with a lot of sand or smaller objects this filter is perfect. This filter is very fast when using the right thing like a thin rag or even a paper towel.
These filters work but are time consuming and take resources you might not have if you are in need of a homemade water filter.
