Dirty Water Problem

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

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.

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.

Evaluation
Further questions and possible experiments resulting from this experiment are:

• How could you measure how clean the water is? 
• Fill a clean, clear glass with water from your tap.
• Hold the glass up to the light and take a look at the water. Is it clear or cloudy.
• Smell the water.
• Buy a water purity test kit, which can be purchased online or at a local hardware store.