The Next Steps In Creating Our Sustainable Water Filter
This week, we worked on creating the prototype of our water filter. After lots of planning and problem solving we figured out a way to create an effective water filter. Our prototype was done with a water bottle, but Sam also designed a 3D printed model of our filter, which Phoebe printed at lunch on Wednesday. We made two different designs to measure the difference. The first design we created was a layered filter. We layered it with fine sand, activated carbon, coarse sand, and gravel. We tested to see if our first filter was successful and we figured out that in order for the water to travel through the filter at a normal pace, you have to in a way “massage” the filter. We also had another problem. The water color was really dark and did not look appealing at all. We thought that this was because of the amount of sand we put in or the dust from the rocks. This also could happen because the sand layer was right next to the cloth at the bottom of the filter. To fix this, Sam and I decided to use only coarse sand and rinse the rocks before we put them into the filter because we used a lot of sand, gravel, and activated carbon in the first one. We also will use more cloth, so the sand doesn’t seep through, hopefully solving the problem of the unappealing water. Our second filter will have most of the same ingredients, but in a different order throughout the bottle. It would also not include fine sand. On Wednesday we made our second water filter model and it was successful! We put more rocks at the bottom and used less sand and the water traveled through at a normal pace. The water color was also really clear. We believe that this was because we cleaned the rocks before we put them in the water filter. On Friday we tested the level of benzene in our schools water. The maximum for benzene in public drinking water is 5 ppb (parts per billion). In our schools water supply that we tested, there was evidence of benzene in the water, but we are waiting for the exact results on Monday. Our plan for next week will be to test the level of benzene in the water after it goes through our filter. Phoebe also created a new and improved 3D print model for our water filter. This one will be able to fit on the sink so it can filter water right from the tap. We hope that when we print the next prototype, it will not print with holes in it, unlike the other printed prototype.
As we did further thinking, we realized that selling our filters via weebly would be too difficult for our group to accomplish. This is because printing many filters would take a lot of time, and it would waste a lot of the school's printing materials. In result to this, our group asked Ernie what to do. He gave us the amazing idea to download our design to thingiverse.com. It would allow people to redesign it to accommodate their faucets, and it would help our group spread awareness about benzene exposure. We also put a link to our weebly page showing steps for how to fill and create the filter. (If you would like to view our design and learn how to create your very own, all of the information will be posted up on the water filters page very shortly)
As we did further thinking, we realized that selling our filters via weebly would be too difficult for our group to accomplish. This is because printing many filters would take a lot of time, and it would waste a lot of the school's printing materials. In result to this, our group asked Ernie what to do. He gave us the amazing idea to download our design to thingiverse.com. It would allow people to redesign it to accommodate their faucets, and it would help our group spread awareness about benzene exposure. We also put a link to our weebly page showing steps for how to fill and create the filter. (If you would like to view our design and learn how to create your very own, all of the information will be posted up on the water filters page very shortly)