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, it’s 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

student’s eyes.

Data Observation

Attached

Data Analysis
 Volume Color Clarity Odor Presence of oil Presence of

solids

Before Treatment 100 mL Dark Not Strong On top of On the

brown clear and water bottom

smelly

After oil water 85mL Light Semi- Smells On top of Little on

separation brown clear like oil water bottom

After sand filtration 80mL Slightly Fairly Weak A little on top No solids

clear clear smell of the water

After charcoal 75mL Clear Clear Very little No oil No solids

absorption and smell

filtration

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 could’ve 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.