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TIME REQUIRED
Average (6-10 days)
METHOD
Scientific Method
To investigate the effectiveness of a simple filter column for filtering different kinds of liquids.
When you're thirsty, nothing is better for you than a glass of water. All you have to do is turn on the tap and fill your glass, open a bottle of water, or go to your refrigerator's water dispenser. Whatever method you use to get water, the point is that you don't have to worry about it. You can get a clean glass of water whenever you need it. However, many people in the world don't have this luxury. Their town or village might not have a well nearby and a family member might need to walk for miles to get the daily requirement of water. Or if there is water nearby, it might be contaminated. Contaminated water can be a source of deadly diseases, such as cholera and dysentery. According to the World Health Organization, every year approximately 1.6 million people die from illnesses (usually severe diarrhea) due to drinking unsafe water. Most of these people are children under the age of five. About 4,500 people—again mostly children—die every day because they drank unsafe water. Another side effect of lack of access to clean water is gender inequality. Gender inequality is the belief that one gender, male or female, is better than the other. The chore of gathering water for the family usually rests upon the shoulders of female family members, especially girls. If girls are gathering water all day, then they don't have time to go to school. Thus, access to clean water can result in a population that is not only healthier, but that is better educated, and more able to help improve their community because they are not sick. In the year 2000, the United Nations member countries put together the Millennium Development Goals. The purpose of this program is to reduce poverty and hunger, to tackle ill health, gender inequality, lack of education, lack of access to clean water, and environmental ruin. Access to clean water plays a big part in reaching many of the Millennium Development Goals. Figure 1 shows a young Rwandan boy enjoying a glass of clean water. This is one child that will not suffer the effects of severe diarrhea.
Since the start of the Millennium Development Goals program, many non-profit and for-profit companies have developed filtration tools that reliably clean water. These tools range from filtering straws that people can carry with them, to simple silver-lined (silver helps clean the water) clay pots. But what is a filter and how does a simple filter work? A water filter is a device that removes impurities (such as dirt) from water using a physical barrier, a chemical process, or a biological process. In this environmental engineering science project, you will experiment with a water filter column kit and see how it works to find out how effective it is at filtering color and visible particles from different kinds of liquids. The water filter column that comes in the kit has four sections: gravel, fine sand, activated carbon, and paper filter. The gravel allows water to pass through, but traps large particles. The sand allows water to pass through and traps smaller particles. The active carbon removes unwanted chemicals in the water through a process called adsorption. The last stage is a paper filter, which is effective at trapping oils. Many cities use water filters that are similar to the filter column you'll use in this science project. The additional step they take, however, is adding chemicals to the water to kill any pathogens, which could make you sick. While doing this science project, think about all the important science and technology that exists to improve people's lives, like devices to clean their water!
