Wat-er We Drinking Project
For this project our teacher gave us a selection of ways we could filter dirty water for poor areas around the world that don't have access to clean water.
Our main question was,
How can we use Chemistry to support the chemical treatment of wastewater and various clean water initiatives?
We were told we would pitch our project in hopes of building a display to highlight the science and engineering practices of our proposed project design for the North Bay Science Discovery Day.
We had to consider the following:
1. Different levels of filtration.
2. Clean water & Health
3. Methods to Recycle wastewater
4. Recycling wastewater in Novato
5. How does drinking water get to your house.?
6. How is wastewater processed from your house?
7. How does contaminated drinking water affect people’s lives?
8. Helping underdeveloped areas get clean drinking water.
9. Calistoga, Using Wastewater for Geothermal
10. San Jose, The Future…Going from Wastewater to Drinking Water
11. Minimizing Clean Water Use.
12. Biological Treatment of Wastewater
13. Advanced Treatment of Wastewater, Biological & Membranes
14. What you should not flush down the toilet?
15. How is drinking water treated?
16. Greywater
17. What do we measure in wastewater for discharge?
18. What do we measure in water prior to sending it for use?
19. How can one explain the structure and properties of water?
My group chose to test three different kinds of filters that you can purchase online or at any store. We used the Brita pitcher filter, Refresh2Go, and a lifestraw.
Our main question was,
How can we use Chemistry to support the chemical treatment of wastewater and various clean water initiatives?
We were told we would pitch our project in hopes of building a display to highlight the science and engineering practices of our proposed project design for the North Bay Science Discovery Day.
We had to consider the following:
1. Different levels of filtration.
2. Clean water & Health
3. Methods to Recycle wastewater
4. Recycling wastewater in Novato
5. How does drinking water get to your house.?
6. How is wastewater processed from your house?
7. How does contaminated drinking water affect people’s lives?
8. Helping underdeveloped areas get clean drinking water.
9. Calistoga, Using Wastewater for Geothermal
10. San Jose, The Future…Going from Wastewater to Drinking Water
11. Minimizing Clean Water Use.
12. Biological Treatment of Wastewater
13. Advanced Treatment of Wastewater, Biological & Membranes
14. What you should not flush down the toilet?
15. How is drinking water treated?
16. Greywater
17. What do we measure in wastewater for discharge?
18. What do we measure in water prior to sending it for use?
19. How can one explain the structure and properties of water?
My group chose to test three different kinds of filters that you can purchase online or at any store. We used the Brita pitcher filter, Refresh2Go, and a lifestraw.
My group tested the dirty water we filtered by measuring its pH level, which is the acidity of the water soluble substance. The pH stands for “potential of hydrogen" and its first 6 values are acidic, while 8-14 are alkaline and 7 is neutral. It increases as the number increases where 14 being the most alkaline. Filters can lower pH because of chemicals in filter that clean water, meaning the lower the pH the better. Our group measured the pH levels using the Pancellent pH meter prior to using the filters.
My group used sink water with approximately 2 teaspoons of salt mixed in and tested each of the three different types of filters we had. The salt water alone had a pH of 7.46, but we also measured the pH again to indicate which filter purified the water of salt best.
My group used sink water with approximately 2 teaspoons of salt mixed in and tested each of the three different types of filters we had. The salt water alone had a pH of 7.46, but we also measured the pH again to indicate which filter purified the water of salt best.
This is what my group and I used to measure the different pH levels of the three types of filters.
Lifestraw: 1st filter we tested
- After purification the pH was 6.27
- Still tasted like salt, but wasn’t as salty as the other filters
- Claims to remove approximately 99.99% of bacteria, parasites, and microplastics
- Durable and ultralight: weights only 2 ounces
- Filters up to 1,000 gallons, which is enough drinking water for an individual for over 5 years
- For every product sold it gives one product to a school child
- Not useful for transporting clean water since you must drink directly from the source
- Comes as a straw so no bottle is provided
- pH got smaller by 1.476
- Filters up to 1,000 gallons
- Slightly salty taste
- $17.88 for one straw
Refresh2go: 2nd filter
- After purification the pH was 7.3
- Used the Level 1 Replacement Filters: 3 pack
- 1 filter is equivalent to 40 gallons
- Filters up to 300 water bottles, which is equivalent to approximately 2 months of water for an individual
- Tasted very salty even after it was filtered
- Claims to filter chlorine taste and odor
- Bpa free
- pH stayed closest to no change. Only .446 lower
- filtered water still tasted super salty
- Didn’t purchase the model with a bottle or straw, which made it difficult to use
- $7.50 for 3 filters that last 6 months
- Requires Refresh2go water bottle
Brita Pitcher Filter: 3rd and last filter tested
- After purification the pH was 6.04
- Claims to reduce Chlorine (taste and odor), Copper, Mercury, Zinc and Cadmium.
- Meant to be installed in a Brita Pitcher
- Long last Brita filter- about every 6 months or produces 120 gallons
- One standard Brita filter can replace 300, 16.9oz water bottles
- Didn’t taste salty at all
- different angles of DIY filter with foam cup are below
- after being filtered, the clean water didn't have any salt taste to it at all
- pH got lower by 1.706
- 120 gallons or every 6 months
- $16.99 for one filter
Results: Brita Pitcher Filter produced the cleanest water with the lowest pH level and had no salty taste
- Best quality of water after filtered
- Lowest pH which means it was the cleanest
- No salt taste
- Do not need a pitcher because you can DIY easily
- Longlast Brita filter lasts 6 month for only $16.99
- While lifestraw lasts longer compared with price, it is inconvenient and does not work as well
- Refresh2go is worst option- while you get 3 filters for lowest price, it requires you to also buy a specific water bottle (only works with one straw size). It also tastes very salty and cleaned the worst. (3 filters last 6 months)
Content:
lifestraw- a water filter designed to be used by one person to filter water for drinking. It filters a maximum of 4000 liters of water, enough for one person for three years. It removes almost all of waterborne bacteria and parasites.
refresh2go- treats up to 40 gallons of water or about two months of use. The Resfresh2go technology uses an all-natural, coconut shell carbon-activated technology to purify drinking water.
Brita pitcher filter- Brita produces water jugs (BPA-free, made of styrene methyl methacrylate copolymer), kettles and tap attachments with integrated disposable filters. The filters can be recycled. Their primary filtering mechanism consists of activated carbon and ion-exchange resin.
pH levels- pH is a scale used to specify how acidic or basic a water-based solution is. Acidic solutions have a lower pH, while basic solutions have a higher pH. At room temperature, pure water is neither acidic nor basic and has a pH of 7.
filter- used to separate particles and fluid in a suspension, where the fluid can be a liquid, a gas or a supercritical fluid. Depending on the application, either one or both of the components may be isolated.
acidity- the level of acid in substances. A lower pH means a higher acidity, and thus a higher concentration of positive hydrogen ions in the solution. Chemicals or substances having the property of an acid are said to be acidic.
alkaline- an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal chemical element. An alkali also can be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0
neutral- a chemical reaction in which an acid and a base react quantitatively with each other. Neutral solution, a chemical solution which is neither acidic nor basic. Neutral particle, a particle without electrical charge.