Water Filtration

Aim: To test different potential water filters

Hypothesis: That sand is the best material to use to filter particles from water.


Materials:

• sand
• compact clay
• very fine sieve
  ordinary kitchen sponge
  
• filter paper
  
• tight cloth
  
• loose cloth, the kind used for arm slings (not to support anybody's limbs but to support the other materials so they don't fall through with the water)
  
• plastic container or bucket or other, not very large


• muddy water

Method:

• stretch the loose cloth over the opening of the container and secure.
  
• spread the filtering material over the cloth. 5 cm layer for sand and clay.


• combine water and mud/dirt. (250mL, 20g dirt)


• slowly pour the water through the improvised filter.


• wait until all the water has passed through before removing the filter.


• boil in a separate pot until water has evaporated.


• weigh the remaining dirt to determine results.
• repeat if necessary

As you can see, I have returned to my abandoned water filtration idea...I promise this is the very last time I will change my subject. Before I was stuck with the problem of how to measure how well the filtration work, how clean the water was after its detox. By evaporating the water, the residue will be left behind as the particles are too heavy and cannot be turned into gas by very high temperatures, obviously, the particles being mud. And when was the last time you saw mud hovering in the air?

Okay, it doesn't really matter that I won't be able to tabloid my results. But a science report can still be written without including a table. So it's cool. I won't be needing any super high-tech machinery like I first thought because this experimenting is all about improvising with the best materials at hand, if the need arises...say, for instance, you happen to get yourself stranded on an island. You would need to know if sand was a reliable filter so you could turn that silty water around into something drinkable. Just an example. It's not like I'm hoping someone will get stuck in the middle of nowhere just so they'll get a chance to test out my experiment for themselves...

Well, that was sufficiently strugglesome. All I'm hoping for now is that my constant changes of mind will actually add up to something - like results. Right, I will probably write something more in about a week. Hopefully I'll be beginning my experiment by then, which will be the cause of my writing that future blog in the first place. Until then...