Lab Report: Foul Water

LAB REPORT

Foul Water Lab

6/18/13

Charlie, Ben, Georgie

Summer 2013

Dr. Forman

Purpose:  

To take a sample of foul water and purify it, so it can be used to wash your hands, or shower.

Abstract:

This lab wasn't just an experiment, it was also a learning lesson because it taught the whole class that it's not so simple to get pure water and we shouldn't take pure water for granted. It showed that turning on a tap water may look easy, but the processes the water has to go through to become pure is much more harder than it looks. Some ways to purify water include three processes that are demonstrated below: oil- water separation, sand filtration, and charcoal adsorption and filtration.

Procedure:

• Make a data table
• Using a beaker, obtain about 100 mL of foul water. Record the volume.
• Fill out the first row on the data table 
• Let the sample sit for at least one minute
• Using a pipet, remove as much of the upper liquid layer and place it into a test tube
• Add a lot of distilled water into the test tube 
• Record the volume and all the information in the second row of the data table
• Dispose the liquid in the test tube

• Using a paper clip, poke small holes in the bottom of a disposable cup.
• Add 1 cm of gravel to both the bottom and the top inside the cup, and then in between the gravel add 2 cm of sand.

• Pour the sample into the cup, causing it to be filtered.
• Dispose the sand and gravel once all of the sample is  filtered.
• Record the volume and all the information in the third row of the data table.
• Fold a piece of filter paper
• Mosten the funnel, and then add the folded filter paper.
• Place the funnel in a clay triangle supported by the ring. Make sure the bottom of the beaker is in the beaker.
• Add one level teaspoon of charcoal in a flask
• Pour water sample into the flask and swirl. Then once it is all mixed, pour the liquid in the flask into the funnel, and make sure you don't pour the liquid over the filter paper outline. (We did this wrong, we poured the charcoal in into the funnel and then added our sample, which caused the water to appear black after it was filtered, so we had to do this step again).

• Filtrate was darkened by charcoal particles, so then filter the liquid again though a clean piece of filter paper.

• Record the volume and all the information in the last row of the data table.

Results: 

After my team and I worked through many different stages to purify foul water, we had a great success in making clear water. However, we did make one mistake towards the end when we didnt combine the charcoal and our liquid sample. Instead, we just poured the charcoal into the funnel and then poured the sample into the funnel, as well, As a result, we had black water. We soon realized this was incorrect and quickly fixed our mistake by taking the black water and mixing it with the rest of our sample. We then used a new funnel and resulted in clear water. In all, I think my group worked really well together, especially when we all had to work extra hard to fix our mistake.

	Volume (mL)	Color	Clarity	Odor	Presence of Oil	Presence of Solids
Before treatment	100 mL	Light brown	Not clear	Onion/trash	Yes; on top	Yes; On bottom and top
After oil-water separation	92 mL	Light Brown	Not clear	Onion/trash	Not as much	Yes, On bottom
After sand filtration	91 ML	Yellow/ Brownish	Not clear, but clearer than before	onions	None	None
After charcoal adsorption and filtration	83 mL	White, clear	Clear	No smell	None	None

• The process of distillation takes the somewhat pure water with salt dissolved in it, and heats it. The heating causes the water to turn into water vapor, leaving just the salt behind. The water vapor eventually turned back into water, but clear water with no salt dissolved into it
• The water with salt generates electricity because of the negative and positive charges. But the water that has been distilled and is now pure does not conduct electricity.

• In the Oil- Water Separation process we noticed the water sunk to the bottom and the oil raised to the top. This is because the water is heavier; therefore, sinks to the bottom, and because the oil is lighter it came to the surface.

The class data was all combined and here are the results:

When oil was removed from the water, many groups lost a lot or a little water, the water lose depends on how much oil the groups took out. After sand filtration, again,  many groups lost a lot or a little water. The lose of water depends on how much distill water the groups added to the sand and gravel. And after adsorption and filtration, all groups lost water. However, three groups gained water. This gaining of water could be caused by the groups adding too much distill water to the funnel. In all, even after mistakes were made, everyone had a success in producing clear, and somewhat pure water.