Testing Low-Budget Water Purification Methods for Rural Areas Using Physical Models

Overview

Obtaining clean water over the past century has become increasingly difficult due to climate change, drought, and overpopulation. This project aimed to uncover cost-efficient methods to purify water for rural areas. In order to obtain results, numerous unclean water samples were ran through differing water purification methods - sand filters, chlorine disinfection, and solar water disinfection - and the resulting properties after treatment were compared to tap water and the control group, which was untreated, unpurified water from the same source. The hypothesis is that purifying water through the low-cost methods of sand filtration and chlorine/solar disinfection will provide clean water that is drinkable. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗲: The sand filter was built using a drainage tank composed of rinsed layers top to bottom: a layer of pebbles, followed by coarse sand, then granulated activated carbon, fine filter sand, another layer of pebbles, and a cheesecloth to prevent the filter media from draining through. The samples were either filtered or not filtered, then some samples received chlorine disinfection of 4 ppm and some did not, further, some samples were placed into direct sunlight for disinfection for 8 hours. Results were obtained by using water quality test strips, digital meters, and bacterial test kits. Unclean water was obtained from the San Diego River and placed into 9 groups: 1) control/no treatment, 2) sunlight + filter, 3) sunlight + filter + chlorine, 4) sunlight + chlorine, 5) sunlight, 6) chlorine, 7) filter, 8) filter + chlorine, 9) tap water/no treatment 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: The hypothesis was proven correct due to groups 3 and 8 providing water that is drinkable. Both of these groups were negative in bacterial presence, the TDS was reduced by 4.4% over the untreated sample, the hydrogen sulfide was reduced by 60% in sample 3 and 100% in sample 8, and the clarity of the water was changed in both from deep yellow to crystal clear. The sand filter was very effective at removing sediments and suspended particulates, while the chlorine was very effective at killing bacteria and reducing hydrogen sulfide levels, but the solar disinfection was ineffective in all aspects.

Testing Low-Budget Water Purification Methods for Rural Areas Using Physical Models

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