The Natural Decontamination of Industrial and Agricultural Water
ISEF · 2014 Materials Science
Overview
Purpose: To analyze the decontamination ability of coontail, sago pondweed, and barley straw. Secondly, to determine the decontamination ability of natural wetlands. Procedures: Small Scale Study & Large Scale Study: Tested water samples from three different locations (beet plant, ethanol plant, and the Wild Rice River). Placed two different aquatic plants (coontail & sago pondweed) and one cereal straw (barley) in water from each of the locations. Tested water samples for amounts of phosphates, nitrates, ammonia, pH, conductivity, and bacteria growth. Repeated this procedure a total of four repetitions. Tewaukon Refuge: Collected water samples from four different water sources located at the Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge. Tested water samples for amounts of dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide, phosphates, nitrates, ammonia, and bacteria growth. Repeated this procedure a total of four repetitions. Barley Straw Pump: Built a pump system that flowed water through a collection of barley straw. Determined flow rate to be at 600ml per minute. Allowed it to flow freely for four weeks. Tested water samples for amounts of phosphates, nitrates, ammonia, pH, conductivity, and bacteria growth. Conclusion: I found that all three decontaminators helped reduce water contamination in both the small scale, large scale, and the practical setting studies. I also noticed that cycling water through the barley straw does help to increase its overall effectiveness. Overall, I feel that even though plants are more effective at decontaminating water, barley straw would still be a suitable choice due its relative low cost and abundance
Competition history
- ISEF 2014
Resources
Related projects
ISEF · 2023
Using Plants to Remove Heavy Metals From Wastewater
CWSF · 2026
Rooting Out Pollution: A Natural Floating Wetland for Heavy Metal, Nutrients, and PFAS Remediation
ISEF · 2024
Finding an Accessible, Environmentally Friendly Solution to Water Purification II: Testing the Effectiveness of Aloidendron barberae and Bambusa dolichomerithalla as Natural Coagulants on Heavy Metal and SOC Concentration Using Spectrophotometry / AAS
ISEF · 2021
Determining the Natural Microbial Flora Found on the Stem Surfaces of Aquatic Plants and Their Connection to Water Filtration
Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.
Source: Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair