Water filter
final design
define a problem
We used the Gantt chart and gave ourselves responsibilities in order to make our project as efficient as possible.
brainstorming
Ideas: sock, pantyhose, polyester, plastic bag with holes, cloth, tissues
Research
These would have been great ways to filter water, however, due to lack of materials and people calling materials we weren't given much to work with.
possibilities
Coffee filters and tissues prove to be the most effective at filtering the water by being able to bring the turbidity down large amounts which made it obvious that we would use them. The polyester did help some which was why we also used that in the design. We forgot to record the cloth which also helped some but not by a large amount.
select an approach
develop a design proposal
make a prototype
test and evaluate the design
We tested the prototype under two conditions; with polyester, and with cloth. The results of the polyester were 105.6 turbidity and the cloth results were 98.5 turbidity.We then came to the conclusion to use both polyester and cloth.
refine the design
After we used both polyester and cloth in our design along with our other materials we finally got a criteria satisfying result of 45.6. This was a very pleasing result after trying just about everything in our possession and nothing having a turbidity value of <40
conclusion and reflection
To complete this project you had to create a water filter that could clean dirty water to have a turbidity level of no greater than 50. Luckily, Brandon and I got 45.6. There were a couple constraints to the project such as coffee filters could not be used as the main component, and no group could have the same main component to their filter. Overall, I think that this is a great project to start out on because it doesn't hurt your brain too much with numbers and equations or trying to make some sort of gate that opens every three seconds. I learned about teamwork and how assigning roles is a very important stage to every project that we work on. I'm glad that I didn't procrastinate as much on this project like I do on many other things I do in school. The only thing I could suggest is that chemicals should not be allowed.