blue109 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 @shepp mentioned this in another post, and I thought you guys might think this was cool. My boy (10yrs) had a science project and we decided to try to make a water filter. I wanted to do it authentic as possible as if we were stranded out in the desert. We initially collected water from 2 separate small park lakes in town. Both have fish and turtles, but they honestly didn't look very gross, and they reacted very slowly to the bacteria tests. I wanted something real yucky. Ended up finding an absolutely disgusting pond used to water cattle. Pure brown, stinky, cow poop. it was also in the same area we frequently hike and camp, and would be gathering our other supplies. Fine sand, rough sand, and gravel came from the dry river bed we like to hike. We burned harvested wood down to coals and then pulverized it. Used a plastic water jug as a housing. layered in order strip of T-shirt, fine sand, charcoal, fine sand, medium sand, gravel. We did a bacteria test with the raw water sample, our filter, and also a life straw and purification tablets. All test samples were taken at the same time, and stored in the same conditions. I was pretty floored by the results. Our homemade filter not only made the disgusting water perfectly clear and smell normal, but it actually filtered out the bacteria. The life straw also did an amazing job. the tablets killed the bacteria, but the sample was obviously still brown and stinky and probably wouldn't taste very good. Obviously, I'd still want to boil it again if it was reasonable to do so before drinking, but I think it would be ok in an emergency. it definitely gave me a warm and fuzzy about the life straws I keep for emergency use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted February 4 Author Report Share Posted February 4 (edited) No....I did not drink any. it's a little early in the year to start burning sick days, and I'm not a fan of dysentery 😆 I also ran all samples over those "water quality test kits" with the little squares that change colors. there wasnt much difference between any of the samples. I even tested those against my tap water. Slight difference in Alkalinity, PH, Nitrate levels, but those don't really apply to an emergency situation, and even then the differences were small so I didn't bother to document it or include the results. Wifee and I went on a hike a few months ago that almost sucked. we tried a new trail someone told us about that ended up being WAY longer than we expected, and it was hotter than expected. Our water made it, but just barely. It was tapped by the time we got back to the truck....and only lasted that long because I had a feeling and filled an extra jug on our way out the door as a backup. After that I ordered some Life Straws and stuck them in the pack since there is usually a little bit of water in the canyon. I hated that feeling of uncertainty as I watched the water bottles get low with no real idea how much further we had to go. Edited February 4 by blue109 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSdefender Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Great info. Really interesting to see how one method of filtering compares to another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Again very cool! And a great lesson and activity for the both of you that could some day be needed!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Cross Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Very cool, would be neat to see some lab results for the drinkability of the filtered water. This probably wouldn't be that hard to get done either, a call to the right person from your municipal water treatment, ask about what lab they use, could they do a comparison of samples for a homeschooling project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunuckgaucho Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 What a great science project, beats the heck out of making a volcano Well it's only day two of the new job but I will be coming in contact/working in the same building that does the water sampling/testing of the municipal water supply. With any luck I'll be able to repat the same set of test and have the lab test and get lab numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted February 5 Author Report Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Cunuckgaucho said: What a great science project, beats the heck out of making a volcano Well it's only day two of the new job but I will be coming in contact/working in the same building that does the water sampling/testing of the municipal water supply. With any luck I'll be able to repat the same set of test and have the lab test and get lab numbers. That would be cool. I read that using activated charcoal works better as it's more porous and captures more contaminants, but I wanted to see how well the natural way would work. Additionally, the kid looked like a coal miner when he finished pulverizing the charred firewood and it was hilarious. Couldn't stop laughing. Totally worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magwa Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 the charcoal really is natures filtering material and it works on so much more like if you have a no see um splinter put charcoal on it and cover it with a band aid and it will draw it out, also if your pet swallows poison feed them charcoal... it works like a sponge and soaks it up... it is cool stuff and a great water filter.. cool stuff for a kid to learn ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 Cool project, and one that could be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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