Hailey Frankland Madison Choiniere Mrs.
Alkire September 19th, 2012 Statement of Problem and Hypothesis Hypothesis If a sample of foul water is put through a three-stage water filtration process, then the water collected after the filtration process will be clean and almost potable because of the steps that were taken to clean the water. Background Science Water is in high demand. There is plenty of water around but much of it is not clean, its foul. This lab taught the class, three water purification processes that separate the oil from the water, filtrate the foul water using sand and gravel and using charcoal as a filtration device. The independent variable was the different water purification processes. The dependent variable was how much water was collected after the filtration.
Experimental Design Procedure: Follow the procedure from Chemistry in the Community page 8-10. Safety Issues: This lab was not that dangerous because there were no acids or harmful chemicals. However goggles were worn to prevent glass from a broken beaker or foul water splashing in the students eyes. Data Observation Attached Data Analysis
Volume Color
Clarity
Odor
Presence of oil Presence of solids
Before Treatment
100 mL Dark brown
Not clear
Strong and smelly
On top of water
On the bottom
After oil water separation After sand filtration
85mL
Light brown
Semiclear Fairly clear Clear
Smells like oil Weak smell Very little smell
On top of water A little on top of the water No oil
Little on bottom No solids
80mL
Slightly clear
After charcoal absorption and filtration
75mL
Clear
No solids
Data Analysis 75mL of the foul water sample was recovered as clean water. 25mL (25%) of the water was lost during the filtration process. In order to find out the percent of water purified, you divide the volume of water purified (75mL) by the volume of foul-water sample (100mL). Then you multiply the answer by 100. Conclusion The purpose of this lab was to make foul water somewhat clean and potable. The hypothesis stated, If a sample of foul water is put through a three-stage water filtration process, then the water collected after the filtration process will be clean and almost potable, and this lab did exactly that. The end result of the purified water was cleaner compared to the foul water that
was started with. This lab experiment could be improved. During the sand and gravel filtration process, groups were told to wet the stones first. That water couldve mixed in with the water that we were filtrating and messed up the ending result of water. That makes the lab not reliable because we did not test it three or more times.
