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Let's Make It Clear: Filtering Dyed Water with Coffee Alginate Beads

CSEF · 2026 Environmental Engineering (Junior Division)

Tessa Garcia, Emma Muchalski

Overview

Organic dyes released into natural sources of water pollute the environment, threatening the ecosystems and human health. Spent coffee grounds and alginate are eco-friendly materials, which prove to be useful in removing pollutants from water. We prepared coffee alginate beads and used them to purify methylene blue (MB). We then used the colorimeter to measure the amount of MB in water throughout the purification. We tested different amounts of beads and discovered that they all have the ability to absorb the majority of MB from the water with measured absorbance from ~ 0.6 to 0.09. We then tested the coffee alginate beads with environmental water. We observed the absorbance for MB went from 0.46 to 0.13. In summary, coffee alginate beads showed great potential in removing MB from water. More research can be done to optimize the beads' performance and test them with other synthetic dyes and water sources.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2026 Environmental Engineering (Junior Division) · Entry J-11-20

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