Dirty Water Problem

Dirty Water Problem

Aim
I want to investigate how to filter dirty water and make it safe to drink.

Hypothesis
No hypothesis needed.

Equipment

dirty contaminated water

3x funnels

stand

3x clamps

pebbles

sand

cotton

charcoal

paper towel

Bunsen Burner

Method

1. Set up the funnels in a line on the stand using clamp to hold them in place.

2. In the top funnel, put a small wad of cotton and then fill with small pebbles.

3. In the middle funnel put a small wad of cotton and then fill with sand.

4. In the bottom funnel put a small wad of cotton and then fill with charcoal.

5. Place a cup under the bottom funnel to catch the water.

6. Pour the dirty water into the top funnel, be careful not to overfill the funnel.

7. Boil the filtrate (filtered water) for 2 minutes and let cool.

Results

The water still had a very "earthy" flavour to it.

Discussion

The pebble filter was able to filter out all the big items like twigs, leaves, bark debris.

The sand filter filtered the small debris like the dissolved mud.

The charcoal filter was able to remove most of the "cloudiness".

I did end up using a 4th funnel where I used coffee filter paper. The filtrate was relatively clear.

Conclusion

This was an effective way of filtering although by the time the water had gotten to the last filter, the water was only dribbling through.