Water Contamination and Purification
Brittney Dorty
SCI 207
Valencia Coty-Barker
May 5, 2014

Abstract The basis of this experiment was to test how different contaminates effect ground water when absorbed. The results were surprising as that I felt any additives would immediately change the entire break up and color of the water. What was most surprising to me was that filtering vinegar through ground water it came out relatively clean. I also believed that when filtered all of the water would have large traces of dirt, but that was not the case with the vinegar. This means that there are still viable ways to filter and purify water.

Introduction This experiment was to test the different ways that different contaminants affect our water supply. There were only a few contaminants tested, contaminants can be anything from liquids, solids, chemical or just plain articles that are left behind on land that can dissolve back into the earth. Human waste is a contaminant that can be introduced back into our water source and we need to understand how all contaminant affect the source. In this lab we used plain water then added vinegar, laundry soap. Oil and soil. We are trying to determine how and why these contaminants affect water from the faucet. A contaminant that exists in water is lead. Lead can lead to illness such as cancer and developmental issues in children. “Lead in water is an underappreciated service of lead intake" (Renner, R. 2008) Lead poisoning was found to be a leading cause of illness in children that lived in homes with lead paint, which caused testing for lead in other areas such as drinking water. It was found that lead typically gets into drinking water after it has been treated so it is not easily monitored. . “It is impossible to say how common or significant such exposures to lead and other metals are because contamination that occurs within the distribution system isn’t monitored,” says Rich Valentine, a professor of engineering at the University of Iowa. (Renner, R 2008) Researchers have also found other contaminants in water that can cause illness or death, few test have been completed that shows the affects on human health due to long term exposure to drinking water with these chemicals but there have been a few cases documented. If these chemicals show up in our drinking water and can cause illness or death to us then you can be assured that this same drinking water will affect our wild life and food. Steps have been taken by environmental specialist to help find a system to better purify our drinking water. There are strong laws in place to fight against chemical dumping and pushers to improve our filtration system. “The EPA US Environmental Protection Agency The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued standards for drinking water with policies like the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974” (Berg, R. 2008)
The reason for doing this experiment is to gauge how each contaminant affects the water and how it can be better filtered. I hypothesized that each contaminant would change the water immensely and make it unfilterable.
Materials and methods In this experiment we will be testing drinking water from a faucet to determine how the water is affected by adding different contaminants and filtration processes. . The materials that were used was eight 250mL beakers, three wooden stir sticks, 100mL graduated cylinder, 10mL of vegetable oil, 10mL of vinegar, 10mL of liquid laundry detergent, 100mL beaker, 240mL of soil, funnel, cheesecloth, and water. (Turk, J. & Bensel, T 2001) The beakers were labeled one through eight. Working first with beakers one through four The beakers were filled with approximately 100ml of water from the faucet. Beaker one was left with plain water, beaker two had 10 ml of vegetable oil was added, beaker three had 10ml of vinegar added and finally beaker four had 10ml of laundry soap added. Each beaker was then stirred with a wooden stir stick thoroughly. For the second part of the experiment I added the cheesecloth folded into four layers and put it into the funnel. I then measured out 100ml of soil and then I poured beaker number one through the funnel and let it filter down into beaker number five. I repeated the process with beakers two through four pouring them into beakers six through eight. When completed I let the filtration complete before making my observation. Here are my results.

Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.) Beaker Observations 1 Plain water no smell at all 2 When you pour oil into the water the oil separates from the water as bubbles and floats to the top and looks like a film on top of the water. 3 When you add vinegar to the water the water become a little darker but the only way you can tell anything was added is due to the smell. 4 When you add detergent the water is cloudy with soap bubbles. 5 Water turned brown and has small flakes of soil that circles the top of the water. Smells like potting soil. 6 The water and oil mixture looks cleaner but still has a light brown color. There is still a film on the top. 7 The water/ vinegar mix is light brown but still is clearer than the other two. 8 This one has a darker brown color and a foggy texture but no smell at all.

When recording my results I realized that my hypothesis was not acceptable the cheese cloth working as a filtration system removed most of the contaminants from the water with the vinegar added leaving very little change. In the other beakers it was as I expected, there was dirt and debris still floating in the water, although not as much it was still there. Discussion Contaminants in drinking water has the potential to cause illness and in some cases death. By adding contaminants to the water I discovered that even minimal contamination is no good and we need to work on perfecting the way we purify our water. Only the beaker with the vinegar added had the possibility to be ingested, the others were undrinkable. Conclusion I have come to the conclusion that vinegar is a solution that needs to be tested to use in the purification process of water as it appears that the vinegar has a chemical structure that allows water to flow through it while it traps the dirt and debris to help the water get clean. I also discovered that there are far more dangerous additives in our water than those I tested that need to be removed to make water safe to drink.

REFERNCES
Berg, R. (2008). Briefings. Drugs in the drinking water: in fiery hearing, Senators urge U.S. EPA to shift its paradigm. Journal of Environmental Health. 71(1), 66-68. Renner, R. (2009). Out of Plumb. Environmental Health Perspectives. 117(12), A542-A547.
Turk, J. & Bensel, T. (2001). Contemporary Environmental Issues. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.