STRAINING OUT THE DIRT

Introduction
Students groups build water filters using activated carbon, cotton and other materials to clean a
"dirty" water sample made from chocolate powder added to tap water. They test and make
observations of filter effectiveness, suggesting material and layering design improvements. They
see how their filtering process compares to the drinking water treatment processes designed by
engineers to provide communities with clean water supplies.

Engineering Connection
Environmental and civil engineers design systems to process communities' water supplies to
make them clean enough for people to drink. Depending on the starting water quality, most
municipal water treatment systems involve many steps to eliminate the contaminants that could
make people sick. Often, the treatment process includes the use of filters of sand and activated
carbon to remove particulate matter and certain bacteria just before the water is disinfected with
chlorine.

Objectives
● Design and build a model filter and compare it to processes used by engineers in
drinking water treatment.
● Test and make observations on filter effectiveness.
● Use data from observations to construct a reasonable explanation of drinking water
treatment through a filter.
● Describe how drinking water filters can help improve the drinking water quality of a
community.
Materials
Each group needs: 0.5 liter (500 ml) plastic water or soda bottle
● ½ cup granulated activated carbon (GAC)
● 2-3 cotton balls
● jar, smaller in diameter than the 500 ml bottle so that the water bottle can be supported
in the jar without falling through
For entire class to share (and the teacher to use):
● drill with small diameter bit
● kitchen knife or scissors
● 3 teaspoons of chocolate powder mix
● water, enough water for each bottle to be filled up 3-4 oz.
● pitcher or bucket, for mixing powdered chocolate and water
● 4-5 cups of sand
● 50+ marbles
Procedure
Before the Activity
1. With a knife or scissors, cut off and discard the bottoms of each empty 0.5 liter bottle.
2. Using a drill, make two holes in each bottle screw top. Although this step is not required,
it slows the water flow, resulting in less mess in the classroom.
3. Prepare a supply of "dirty" water by mixing two 11or three teaspoons of chocolate
powder and the cold water in the pitcher. Don't worry if the powder makes lumps at the
top of the mixture.
4. Construct one or two filters as examples and a control. For the control, turn one plastic
bottle upside down, with the cut opening to the top, and place a cotton ball in the lid.
Screw the lid back onto the bottle. Use this filter as the control filter for students by
pouring the mixture into the bottle and watching the chocolate/water mixture pour out.
Create another filter or two the same way, but add whatever mixtures of cotton, sand and
marbles that you would like to serve as example filters.
5. At the Explanatory Notes section of the Personal Activity Sheet, the students shall draw
a table with 3 columns. Label the first column with Know, the second column with Want
to Know, and the last with Learned. Under the title Know, write all the things they know
about drinking water filters. Under the title Want to Know, write down anything they want
to know about drinking water filters. After the lesson, under the title Learned, write all of
the things that they have learned about drinking water filters.

During the Activity

1. The class shall be divided into groups of four to five students each. They are going
work as if they are environmental engineers designing water filters for a drinking water
treatment plant. Their engineering challenge is to make the cleanest water possible out
of the provided dirty water sample using any combination of the available materials. One
requirement is that each filter must include a cotton ball in the bottle lid.
2. The students shall make predictions on which filter layer will be the most effective at
cleaning the water and why.
3. When each group has finished creating their filters, pour about 2" thick
(approximately ½ cup) of granulated activated carbon (GAC) on the top of their layers.
Now the filters are ready to be used. 122
4. The students shall place their filters with the caps downwards on the tops of their
glass jars.
5. Next, the professor will pour the chocolate mixture into the prototype filters for each
group. The students shall be directed to observe the "clean" water move from the bottom
of the filter into the jar. When the filtration is done, the students shall take their jars and
filters to a location where light can illuminate the new mixtures. What happened to the
water when it was filtered?
6. The class will vote on which team's filter cleaned the water the best. As time permits,
the class will discuss why the winning filter was the most effective and ask for
suggestions and ideas for how to make the filter even more effective.
 PERSONAL ACTIVITY SHEET
Title : Straining Out the Dirt
Date: 11/13/2022 Location of Activity: BUCENG CE Bldg.
Time Started: 1 PM TIme Finished:5 PM

Equipment/ Materials Used:

Scissors GAC
Cotton Sand
Water Bottle Chocolate Powder
Marbles Paper Cups

Group Name: ______________________-Designation of

Members:
BERMAS, YANCY- Experiment Proper
DADO, SHEKINAH- Writing the Explanatory Notes & Conclusion
MENDOZA, DANICA-Materials
PACARDO, CHRISLEY MAE- Experiment Proper
TERCERO, KIM- Documentation

Observations/Sketches (Include a sketch of the drinking water

filter. Label each layer and identify the different materials in each
layer.)
 Explanatory Notes
Know
o Different methods of water
filtration was discovered by
mankind throughout the
course of time. Within
these methods are layers
of different elements.
o Activated carbon is one of
the elements found within
the layers of an ideal water
filter
o o The activated charcoal
Want to know Learned
o What are the effects and
purpose of these elements
found within the different
layers
o What makes activated
carbon significant in its
purpose among the layers
o The cotton ball layers
prevent other layers from
falling into the water.
o The sand layer acts as a
coarse filter for large
muddy particles and to
keep the activated charcoal
or clay particles from
getting into the cleaned
water.
layer is amazing at trapping
the impurities in its network
of holes and tunnels.
o The marbles being coarser
than the sand will act as
initial filter removing coarse
sediments from the passing
water
Documentation