Making a Water Filter out of Trees

By Aurora LaPorte, Elizabeth Adamson, and Paige Bingham

May 26th, 2016

Which Type of Tree Most Effectively Purifies
Water in Combination with an Activated
Carbon Filter?
Hypothesis
If we run Glencoe’s contaminated water through a coniferous tree branch then the
water will be purified and come out closer to a pH of 7 than a deciduous tree branch
because coniferous trees must make the most effective use of water year round while
deciduous trees must conserve water for the winter months.
This experiment was
inspired by a study at
MIT where they created
a xylem filter using a
tree branch. The link to
the article can be found
below:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a10143/a-sim
ple-tree-branch-can-become-a-backyard-water-filter-16540288/
Types of water filters
Carbon Activated Reverse osmosis

Ion exchange Distillation

Activated carbon filters
Use carbon granules (the charcoal): very porous

Chemical impurities trapped by adsorption

Downsides:

Filter must be replaced

Can’t cope with uncommon impurities

Trees
Douglas Fir Cherry Hawthorn (shrub)
Materials
● 3” Douglas Fir branch ● Plastic Cups
● 3” Cherry branch ● Funnel
● 3” Hawthorne branch ● Plastic bag
● Paper towel roll ● Crushed charcoal
● Hair ties (2) ● Gravel
● Coffee Filters (2) ● Sand
● Duct tape ● Table or other flat surface
Protocol
1) Run pH test on contaminated Glencoe water
2) Pass water through each tree using paper towel roll
3) Run pH tests on water samples collected from passing water through each tree
4) Create activated carbon filter
5) Put Glencoe water through filter
6) Run tests on water sample after filtration
7) Repeat steps 5-6 with filter and each type of wood, replacing the coffee filter on
the filter after each trial
Mechanics
 Sample pH

Glencoe water (untouched) 5.71

Douglas Fir branch 7.09

Cherry branch 7.08

Hawthorne branch 7.12

Filter (alone) 7.54

Filter + Douglas Fir branch 7.52

Filter + Cherry branch 7.51

Filter + Hawthorne branch 7.48

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends a pH between 6.5 and 8.5 for drinking water.
Analysis
One mistake we made was failing to secure the charcoal in our filter. It leaked into the
filtered water, destroying our samples. We fixed this by adding another coffee filter at
the end of the filter, creating a modified water filter.

Another mistake was failing to wash our cups between each use.

If we were to do this experiment again we would make sure we had more time so that
we could collect more data and run multiple trials on each branch and filter.

Douglas Fir and Cherry trees are both trees and not shrubs like the Hawthorne,
causing their results to be very similar.
Conclusion
Hypothesis:

If we ran Glencoe’s contaminated water through a coniferous tree branch then the
water will be purified and come out closer to a pH of 7 than a deciduous tree branch
because coniferous trees must make the most effective use of water year round while
deciduous trees must conserve water for the winter months.

Unfortunately, our data does not confirm our hypothesis.

Why is this important?
Almost 2.5 BILLION people lack access to clean water and basic sanitation. Of those
2.5 billion, 6 to 8 million will die THIS YEAR ALONE from diseases that could have
been prevented by having access to cleaner water.
Future Action
Tree branches are an abundant resource that we had not before considered as a tool to filter
water. There are many ways we see tree branch water filters becoming more common in the
future, from MIT’s xylem and plastic tubing filter to our ideas of simply hollowing out part of a
tree branch or putting a bottle full of dirty water directly on the branch, eliminating the need for
plastic tubing entirely. So maybe our hypothesis was incorrect. But truth be told? This is a much
better discovery.
Credits
We’d like to give a big thank-you to the GK-12 Project at PSU, Amy Truitt PhD
candidate, PSU, Linda Wolf, our parents for their love and support, and mother nature!

We appreciate all the help and support given to us throughout this experiment, we
couldn’t have done it without you! :)
Bibliography
P., Krisch, J. A., & H. (2014). A Simple Tree Branch Can Become a Backyard Water Filter. Retrieved May 12, 2016, from
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a10143/a-simple-tree-branch-can-become-a-backyard-water-filter-1654028
8/

Health Effects of pH on Drinking Water. (2013). Retrieved May 18, 2016, from
http://www.livestrong.com/article/214475-health-effects-of-ph-on-drinking-water/

How do water filters work? | Types of water filter. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2016, from
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/howwaterfilterswork.html

The technical definition of pH is that it is a measure of the activity of the hydrogen ion (H ) and is reported as the reciprocal of
the logarithm of the hydrogen ion activity. Therefore, a water with a pH of 7 has 10-7 moles per liter of hydrogen ions; whereas, a
pH of 6 is 10-6 moles per liter. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. . (n.d.). Retrieved May 18, 2016, from
http://www.water-research.net/index.php/ph

PH paranoia: Understanding alkaline water claims. (2012). Retrieved May 18, 2016, from
http://www.watertechonline.com/ph-paranoia-understanding-alkaline-water-claims/