Roemer, Mittelstadt1

Annabel Mittelstadt
Ally Roemer
Mrs. Fischer
Chemistry, Period 5
4 September 2013
Foul Water Lab
Purpose:
- We are attempting to purify a sample of foul water.
Introduction/explanation:
-We researched different ways to purify water naturally, and combined a few methods
that resulted in our water filter.
a. Solids will be removed with a coffee filter and small and large gravel.
b. The water will be separated from the oil with the sand, the activated charcoal
and the coffee filter.
Materials:
2 plastic cartons with plastic caps
Coffee filters
Activated charcoal
Fine sand
Large grain sand
Small sized gravel
Large gravel
T-shirt material
Scissors
Rubber bands
Procedure:
1. First, clean or rinse the activated charcoal, sand, gravel and T-shirt.
2. Take the two plastic cartons, flip them upside down and cut the plastic 1" from the bottom
halfway through to create a plastic lid.
3. Remove the plastic caps and attach the T-shirt material to the openings with the rubber bands.
Make sure the cloth covers the whole opening.
4. Through the cut opening in each container, pour a layer of activated charcoal
5. Add the layer of fine sand, and then add a layer of thicker sand. The more sand added, the
better the result will be.
6. Add a layer of the small sized gravel, and after that a layer of large gravel.
7. Top both containers with a coffee filter.
8. Poke holes in the caps and reattach the caps to the plastic cartons over the T-shirt material.
9. Place one carton cap down in the cut opening of the other carton.

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10. Place the filter over where you want the water to go, and pour the water through the cut
opening of the top container.
Results:
First
attempt
Second
attempt

Observations
We ran the filthy water through one filter, and the water was very foggy, with lots
of oil.
a. We poured foul water through two filters, and the filtered water was
slightly foggy with small spots of oil.
b. We filtered a second time. We poured the water through the second filter
only, and the water was dirtier than the first time.
c. We filtered the water the same way a third time, and the water came out
relatively similar to the results of filter process a. with slightly foggy
water and small spots of oil.

Conclusion:
The purification method of sand, gravel and charcoal worked well and successfully cleared away
most of the dirtiness in the water. The smell of coffee and garlic was not present; however, the
water had a bit of oil in it and was somewhat foggy. If we had had even more jugs of layered
sand and gravel through which the water could run, it would have been closer to completely
clean and clear. Before putting the fine-grain sand into the jugs, we made the mistake of not
washing it. Because the sand was a bit dirty, it affected the outcome of the water being tested.
However, once the filter was assembled, we rand clean water through over and over, to fix our
error, until the water came out looking the same and the sand had been washed clean.