What’s in Your Water?

Overview

Objectives: I noticed that many people drink filtered water and bottled water rather than straight tap water. I wanted to prove that tap water has no statistically significant differences with carbon filtered, spring, and purified water. I also hypothesized that all four types of water fit the Environmental Protection Agency or World Health Organization water quality guideline in every parameter. If tap water was similar to other water types, this can lead to lower usage of plastic. Methods: I used water testing strips, a water meter, and a water test kit to take a total of eighteen different parameters for each water type. Using a 95 percent confidence interval in analysis of variance, I was able to determine if there were statistically significant differences. When the null hypothesis was rejected, I conducted paired t-tests to determine where the statistically significant differences occurred. Results: I discovered that tap, carbon filtered, and purified water fit the water quality guidelines in every parameter except for pH. Spring water fit the water quality guidelines in every parameter except for nickel and lead. Additionally E. Coli was not detected in any of the four water types. Conclusions: The collected data showed how there are statistically significant differences across the four water types. Tap water does not seem to be necessarily worse than carbon filtered or purified water. Having high levels of lead and nickel, spring water seemed to be worse than tap water.

Awards (1)

• Category Award: 1

Competition history

• CSEF 2023 Chemistry · Entry J0601

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