Filters for Clean Water

Transcription

1 Filters for Clean Water Katie Schuelke Originally presented at the Illinois State Science Fair in Project and Paper Session, May /14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

2 Acknowledgements I would like to recognize and thank: My parents and brother Mr. Kevin Keehn, my 8 th grade science teacher The Illinois Junior Academy of Science Randy Vanderwerf and the Illinois Section American Water Works Association 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

3 Purpose To analyze cost-effective drinking water filters for new wells to filter out toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

4 Hypothesis As the filtration media get more dense, the water flow will slow, providing the active filter with more time to filter out the contaminants. 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

5 Background The Contaminant Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Each change is caused by bacteria eating and producing the new chemical Each transition reaches a lower level of toxicity 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

6 Background Contaminant Sources Third-World Countries Animal waste running into wells, rivers, or other forms of drinking water Plant matter falling into drinking water sources and then decomposing United States Fertilizers and other contaminants running into river systems, lakes, or wells Nitrite and Nitrate are found in quantities exceeding the EPA recommended maximum concentration. 1.2% of community wells 2.4% of private wells 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

7 Background Health Issues Ammonia is toxic if ingested Fatal to people who have pre-existing liver and/or kidney problems Eyes Liver Kidney Lungs Chronic bronchitis Nitrite/Nitrate Pregnancy complications Risk of diabetes, malformation, or death for the child Methemoglobinemia- methemoglobin, a form of hemoglobin is produced. Methemoglobin can not release oxygen Reaction with amino acids can cause nitrosamines, which are known to cause cancer in animals 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

8 Filter Media Selection Criteria Filter Media Easy to ship Locally/ readily available Cotton Sand Gravel Zeolite Crystals Activated Carbon Non-toxic to humans and animals All of the above 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

9 Materials Active Filter Media Activated Carbon Zeolite Crystals Inactive Filter Media Sand Cotton Balls Fish Tank Gravel in mesh bag 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

10 Materials Test Kits Comparison charts Chemicals for testing Ammonia had 2 chemicals Nitrite had 1 chemical Nitrate had 2 chemicals Test kits are readily available in aquarium stores and are trust worthy 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

11 Procedure Setup Fiber-floss stretched over the bottom and top Simple water bottle Contaminant reservoir on the top Filters: Active media on top and inactive on the bottom Container at the bottom for collecting filtered water Fish tank from which I received my nitrate water Great source of nitrate water Otherwise it could have taken up to 5 or 6 weeks to degrade from ammonia

12 NH 3 NO 2 - Procedure - Test 1 2 NO 3 - Pour 100 ml of each contaminant into the apparatus Wait while water filters through 3 Pour filtered water into apparatus again (repeat 10x total) Active Filter Media Inactive Filter Media 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

13 Procedure - Analyze 1a 1b Pour in 5ml of filtered water Place specified number of test drops 2 Wait 5 minutes for color to develop 3 Compare color and record amount Repeat for each of the three contaminants in a separate test tube 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

14 Test Result Variability Tested each combination 10 times Notice consistency between each test run Percentage of Nitrite Removed Active: Carbon Zeolite None Inactive: None Gravel Cotton Sand None Gravel Cotton Sand Gravel Cotton Sand Trial Nbr Average /14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

15 Summary Results The winners are Ammonia - Zeolite and Sand Nitrite/Nitrate - Activated Carbon and Sand Media Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Carbon Zeolite Carbon Zeolite Carbon Zeolite Only active media* 41% 93% 90% 86% 94% 56% Gravel (~15 sec) 48% 75% 89% 80% 88% 75% Cotton (~3 min) 75% 85% 93% 80% 94% 75% Sand (~15 min) 85% 94% 100% 80% 100% 66% Sand, the most dense and slowest inactive media, increased the effectiveness of the active media the most, proving the hypothesis correct * Twice as much active material used to compensate for lack of inactive material

16 For the Visual Thinkers Active only Ammonia Gravel Cotton Sand Activated carbon was generally the more effective active media Sand consistently improved carbon s effectiveness Interestingly, sand was not necessarily the most effective for zeolite Active only Nitrite Gravel Cotton Sand Active only Nitrate Gravel Cotton Sand 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon Zeolite Activated Carbon

17 Impact A safe way to filter water while the levels even out Prevent birth defects and other complications Save infants from contaminated water being put into their formula Can help in third world countries and even in America 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

18 Thank you for your time Questions? 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon

19 References Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, (2007). Case studies in environmental medicine (csem) Altanta, Georgia: Retrieved from Richard,. (n.d.). Why treat wastewater?. Retrieved from Methemoglobinemia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Knobeloch, L., Salna, B., Hogan, A., Postle, J., & Anderson, H. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. (2000). Blue babies and nitrate-contaminated well water ( ). Madison, WI: PubMed. Retrieved from (Knobeloch, Salna, Hogan, Postle, & Anderson, 2000) Griesenbeck, J.S., Brender, J.D., Sharkey, J.R., Huber, J.C. Jr., Rene, A. A., McDonald, T.J., Romitti, P.A., Canfield, M.A., Langlois, P.H., Suarez, L., & Steck, M.D. BioMed Central Ltd., PubMed Central. (2010). Maternal characteristics associated with the dietary intake of nitrates, nitrites, and nitrosamines in women of child-bearing age: a cross-sectional study (PMC ). Retrieved from (Griesenbeck, Brender, Sharkey,Huber, Rene, McDonald, Romitti, Canfield, Langlois, Suarez, & Steck, 2010) 3/14/2012 Katie Schuelke - Watercon