Powdered or Granular: Which Activated Carbon Makes Your Water Look Spectacular?

Overview

PROBLEM: This experiment investigated and compared the effectiveness of powdered versus granular activated carbon in filtering ink-polluted water, using different concentrations of ink. The purpose was to examine how particle size of carbon impacts filtration. The hypothesis was that powdered activated carbon (PC) is more efficient than granular activated carbon (GC) because PC (the adsorbent) has greater exposed surface area for adsorption of the adsorbate (the ink contaminant) which gets trapped as polluted water passes through during filtration due to Van der Waals forces, specifically London Dispersion Forces. PROCEDURE: Control trials provided baselines. 225 ml of water was mixed with 5 drops of ink and treated with various quantities (3g to 8g) of both PC and GC. After 10 min of exposure with PC and GC, pre- and post-filtration clarity scores were recorded using a predetermined clarity scale of 1 to 10 (1 clear, 10 completely black). With 7g of PC, complete filtration was achieved. 7g of PC and GC were also tested using 10, 15 and 30 drops of ink. RESULTS: Results supported the initial hypothesis that PC has greater filtration ability than GC for low and moderate ink concentrations, but they failed to support it at high concentrations of ink due to the carbon being saturated with the ink. Applications include home filtration needs in emergency situations and camping to obtain clean potable water free of chemicals, odors, and turbidity.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Chemistry (Junior Division) · Entry J-05-11

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