Water Filtration Project:

Make Your Own Water Filters

Summary
Students are asked to design methods to filter water using ordinary materials, while also considering their designs'
material and cost efficiencies. They learn about the importance of water and its role in our everyday lives. They come to
understand what must occur each day so that they can have clean water. The project has two (2) parts.
1. Firstly, you must build a water filter using recycled materials found at home or purchase items that can be used
more readily (see materials list). Creativity in the materials used gives additional *X-factor points*

2. Secondly, you must present a paper including:

a. Aim: To demonstrate water filtration using homemade materials and evaluate the importance of this
method in third world countries.
b. Background information on:
i. Filtration (including the definition)
ii. Main steps in water purification (coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection)
iii. Use of filtration as a method of water purification
iv. Impact of homemade water purifiers on available potable water in third world countries
c. Material list: that should list what materials you (ACTUALLY) used in your experiment. DO NOT copy
and paste material list provided below
d. Discussion: that answers the investigative questions below.
e. Conclusion: One paragraph usually recapping a-d. Make sure it is brief (4-6 lines)

Materials List
Clean water is not available in all parts of the world. Many people live with polluted water that is unhealthy to drink and
bathe in. Purifying water can be done easily if it is a small amount that is fairly clean, but larger amounts that are very
polluted are much more complicated.
Typical steps for full water treatment include aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection. Below is a
list of materials that can be used to create your home filtration system. N.B. Creativity will be given X-factor points,
however the filter must be able to separate the debris and dirt successfully

 1 litre of water prepared in advance with soil and sand in it until it is thin but relatively opaque (to be used to
practice at home. A universal supply of water containing soil and debris will be used during the presentation)
 2 plastic bottles ( to be cut in half to create the filter)
 cotton balls
 gauze squares
 tulle/netting
 tissue
 paper towels
 coffee filters
 gravel (aquarium gravel works great)
 sand

Investigating Questions

The investigative questions should be answered and presented as part of your presentation

 What was the best filtering agent and why?

 What are other ways we purify our water?
 What is the goal of designing your own at home water purifier?
 What are the limits (constraints) that you need to consider when designing your water filter?
 How can you determine how successful your design is?
 Discuss why the filtrate will still be considered unfit to drink
 What are other methods of cleaning or filtering water

Safety Issues
In this activity though the water is filtered it is however unfit to drink.