| You probably want a water purifier to provide safe, | | | | works. The largest particles of dirt will remain in one |
| good tasting drinking water for you family. As public | | | | bowl, the smaller particles of dirt will remain in the |
| awareness regarding the quality of our drinking water | | | | yarn, turning it from white to brown, and the water |
| continues to rise, many people are searching for | | | | in the lower bowl will look cleaner. As a water |
| solutions. Designing a Home Made Water Purifier | | | | purification system, most of the microscopic |
| system may be the answer. | | | | contaminants such as bacteria, chemicals, and various |
| While mostly pointless, building a home made water | | | | microscopic organisms will be unaffected, and the |
| purifier makes a great elementary school science | | | | water will be quite unfit to drink. |
| project. It'll show a small amount of how water | | | | For the purposes of water purification, no elementary |
| purification works and probably earn some extra | | | | school science project will suffice. Commercial and |
| credit, but do little else. | | | | professional water filters are far too complex to be |
| In order to make water safe to send into your | | | | constructed with any amount of yarn, bowls, or |
| home, treatment facilities use numerous steps. Once | | | | cardboard boxes. |
| inside your home, if you want the safest and best | | | | A home made water purifier isn't even the best way |
| tasting drinking water, you need additional filters. | | | | to explain water filtration. For that a trip to the local |
| Activated carbon, for example, blocks chlorine, lead | | | | water purification facility would be your best bet. |
| and improves taste. Micron filters trap dangerous | | | | There you would learn firsthand the amount of |
| micro-organisms that are not killed by the chlorine. | | | | hardware involved in filtering the water needed by |
| The most common type of home made water | | | | your local neighborhood. Not to mention the amount |
| purifier for this particular science project involves a | | | | of microscopic organisms and chemicals that must be |
| small cardboard box, two bowls, three feet of white | | | | removed from the water with specialized equipment |
| yarn, and some dirty water. One bowl is placed on | | | | before its deemed fit to drink. |
| top of the cardboard box and the other is placed at | | | | The process employed by our municipal water |
| the base of the box. | | | | suppliers is complex and difficult to incorporate into a |
| The yarn is cut into three equal segments and | | | | home made water purifier. The process consists of |
| twisted together to form a rope. The elevated bowl | | | | first sand bed filtration which removes the heavy, |
| is filled with dirty water, one end of the makeshift | | | | visible particles. Chlorine is then introduced to sanitize |
| rope is placed into the dirty water and the other end | | | | the water much the same way we clean a standard |
| is placed in the empty bowl at the base of the box. | | | | swimming pool. This process does essentially nothing |
| The water will travel through the rope, an amount of | | | | for the removal of SOC'S (Synthetic Organic |
| the dirt will not. | | | | Chemicals). Just think, many Americans drink what is |
| As a science project, a home made water purifier will | | | | essentially pool water stripped of all essential minerals |
| give a generalized example of how water treatment | | | | and nutrients while still retaining most of the SOC's. |