Its no myth, just call us lith: Fresh, Clean, Pure (Foul Water Lab)

Makena, Nina, Nicolette

Dr. Forman

6/18/13

Chemistry 

Abstract:

Through the filtration process we used three techniques: water-oil separation, sand filtration, and charcoal filtration and absorption. We used water-oil sparation to separate the oil from the water, we used sand filtration to get rid of the solid particles which caused the water to become less dirty and foggy. Lastly we used charcoal filtration and absorption to completely clear the water allowing usage. Overall this was a successful filtration proccess and water ended up becoming extremely clear and pure. 

Procedure: 

1. we first by accident poursed the foul water out of the graduated cylinder in the beaker

2. then we poured it back into the graduated cylinder to correct our mistake

3. then we took a pipet to suck up all the oil on the top of the water and poured it into another beaker

4. we then diluted the oil with water, which caused the the water to sink to the bottom because it was less dense

5. then we poked holes in a styrofoam cup 

6. and then filled the cup using a ruler to get exactly 1cm of gravel, with 2 cm of sand of top of that, and then 1 cm of gravel on top of that

7. then we poured distilled water over the the sand to moisten it 

8. and then we poured the foul water into the cup filled with sand and gravel so it would come out the bottom of the cup

9. then we got a ring satnd and tighted the ring 

10. we then folded filter paper and put it into the funnel where we moistened it with distilled water

11. we poured the foul water into the flask with the charcoal and mixed in, which caused it to look like black coffe

12. Lastly we poured the dark fluid into the filter paper and let it drain into fresh, clean, and pure water. 

Results:

Before Treatment:

   Volume-100ml

   Color- yellowish brown

   Clarity- very foggy and dirty

   Odor- smells horrible like a dirty bathroom

   Oil: at the top of the water

   Solids: little black specks

After oil-water separation:

   Volume- 95ml

   Color- yellowish brown

   Clarity- very foggy and dirty

   Odor- smells like a dirty bathroom

   Oil- no oil

   Solids- little black specks

After san filtration:

   Volume- 93 ml

   Color- light yellow

   Clarity- much clearer, but still a little foggy 

   Odor- smells like dirt

   Oil- no oil

   Solids: a little sand

After charcoal absorption and filtration: 

   Volume- 86 ml

   Color- none

   Clarity- pretty clear 

   Odor- smells like a vegetable garden and soil

   Oil- none

   Solids: tiny particles that are to small to see
After distillation:
   Color- none
   Clarity- completely clear
   Odor- none
   Oil- none
   Solids: none
  

The overall results:

   86% was recovered from the process 

   We lost 14 ml during the process
   Through conductivity I realized that the filtered water was not pure because there are still small impurities that are to small to see.
   There is aggregiated data among the class because everybody didn't do everything exactly, for example some people may have moistened the sand more or and other may have not moistened it at all, so the results end up being different.

The purpose of this lab was to teach us the steps to filter water and in this process we realized that although water pollution and the lack of water are both critical the lack of water in our opinion is more critical becuase through this purification proccess we understood that we can purify polluted water.

Histogram: 

Started from foul now we're clear.