Homemade Water Filter

We wanted to create a water filter system that could be made household materials that you could find in and around your house.  We were inspired to create this filter, as there are many third world countries like Africa that do not have access to safe drinkable water.

Our hypothesis is that when we run water through our homemade filter, the water will become clear, with little to no taste or odor.  We expect this because and effective filter should remove dirt and impurities that make the water murky, gritty, and unpleasant to taste.  If our filter works well, the water should be much cleaner than untreated river water.

We predict that the filtered water will be:

Clear, not brown or cloudy

Not taste earthy or sandy

Have a smooth or not gritty texture, and

Have little to no odor or musty smell

We used YouTube and Google searches to help guide the design of our water filter. These resources gave us a basic understanding of filtration methods and materials. We also had the opportunity to tour the water treatment plant in Peace River, which was a valuable experience. During the tour, we learned about large-scale water purification processes and saw how different stages of treatment are carried out.

Although we did not have access to all the chemicals and equipment used in professional water treatment, the experience helped us better understand the concepts behind water filtration. Overall, combining online research with real-world observation improved our design and knowledge. We made multiple prototypes.

Our first protoype involved using a 2 liter pop bottle with layers of sand, charcoal, rocks, cotton balls, coffee filter and cloth. For our second prototype, we used assorted plastic containers and tubing, as well as sand, charcoal, and sponge to divide and add that extra layer of filtration to keep the materials separate. Our final prototype, we used household ABS pipe, sand, and home made activated charcoal.

We completed multiple tests using water from the Peace River. We measured Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), which shows the amount of dissolved substances in the water.

Our results showed that our filter did work, but there are still many improvements that could be made. While we were able to reduce some impurities, the filter was not perfect.

Overall, we are happy with the results of our project. We would continue to research and test new ways to improve our design in the future.

We upgraded our filter by using ABS piping as the main structure and adding a heavy-duty screen to prevent filtration materials from escaping. The filter consisted of equal layers of charcoal, fine sand, and rock.

When we ran water through the filter multiple times, we observed that the sand was too fine and was passing through the system. This caused the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) readings to be higher than the initial raw water measurements and also turned the filtered water dark in color.

To address this issue, we replaced the fine sand with coarser play sand and tested the filter again. However, we still observed particles passing through the filter, along with elevated TDS levels. We modified the design further by adding layers of coffee filters between the sand and charcoal, and between the charcoal and the screen. This adjustment helped contain the filtration materials and resulted in a noticeable decrease in TDS levels and a slight color change. Would we considered drinking this water? At this time we do not feel it safe to drink.

In conclusion, our experiment demonstrated that the design and material selection of a water filter significantly impact its effectiveness. Through multiple prototypes, we observed that simply adding more filtration layers does not guarantee better results; instead, proper separation and containment of materials are essential.

Our initial designs showed some filtration ability, but also revealed issues such as fine particles escaping into the water, which increased Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and reduced water clarity. This highlighted the importance of choosing appropriate material sizes and preventing internal materials from mixing with the filtered water.

By refining our design—specifically by replacing fine sand with coarser play sand and adding coffee filter layers to separate materials—we were able to reduce particle escape and improve overall water quality. The final prototype using ABS piping and improved layer separation proved to be the most effective and consistent design.

Overall, this project showed that successful water filtration depends not only on the type of materials used, but also on how they are arranged and contained. Testing, observation, and redesign were critical in improving our filter’s performance, and our results demonstrate problem-solving in engineering design.

To improve our filtration system, we could use ideas from real-world water treatment. One method is sedimentation, where water is left to sit so heavier particles sinik to the bottom before filtering. This helps make the filter work better.

Another method is coagulation and flocculation. This is when chemicals are added to make small particles stick together so they are easier to remove. We did not use chemicals in our design because they may not always be easy to get or safe to use in all places. Final step would be UV light to kill Bacteria.

Phoenix

I would like to thank our parents. They helped us with every thing we achieved. They helped us build the projects including the trial runs and for proof reading our written work. They helped us even when they didn't want to, they stayed and helped. We'd like to thank them for their time and patience as well as their gratitude. They helped us so much and we thank them for all their help. :)

Masen

We would like to thank our parents for helping us gather information and finding the right materials to use in our different prototypes.

We would also like to thank Mr. Pittman and the judges from the Regional Science Fair for giving us the opportunity to go to the Canada Wide Science Fair. Thank you so much!

Prototype 1 - Instagram @waterfilterguru

Prototype 2 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=ADWNO0WrrTY&feature=youtu.be. 22:05 in the video