Something's In The Water

Overview

This project investigated whether electrical impedance could be used to detect contamination in water. The hypothesis was that increasing levels of contamination would increase the conductivity of the water, resulting in a lower electrical impedance. An electrochemical cell was constructed using household materials and BNC cables, and it connected to a Field-Programmable Gate Array (named the "Red Pitaya") that used a website to measure impedance at gradually increasing frequencies. After testing the distilled water sample for a control value, contaminants were added at a concentration of 1 ppm, and the measurements were repeated. Double-checking the result from the website with Python code gave the same results. The data showed that the electrical impedance of the contaminated water was constantly and consistently lower than that of the distilled water. Additionally, samples contaminated with salt and monosodium glutamate (MSG) gave different impedance levels although both had equal concentrations. These findings showed that electrical impedance measurements could detect small amounts of dissolved contaminants and possibly distinguish between different substances. The results support the hypothesis that increased contamination increases conductivity and decreases impedance in water samples.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Physics & Astronomy (Junior Division) · Entry J-17-03

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