Will distillation be more effective than filtration for purifying water?
INTRODUCTION AND SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND METHOD
Given that the surface of the Earth is two-thirds water, and the human body is 75 percent water, there is no
question that water is one of the most, if not the most important substance there is. However, not all water
is safe to drink. The safety and accessibility of drinking water is a major concern. Often, our water supplies
has dangerous chemicals, bacteria, viruses and inorganic materials dissolved in it, creating a toxic solution
which poses severe health risks to those who consume it. For example, levels of chlorine by-products such
as trihalomethanes could skyrocket, leading to pipe corrosion and releasing iron, copper and lead into
drinking water. The health risks that arise from this include heart disease and cancers potentially caused by
chlorine, as well as dangers to the nervous, circulatory and digestive systems from ingesting lead.
This is why it is important to improve access to safe drinking water and maintain its cleanliness. There are
many different ways of ensuring that water is safe to drink. Such ways include sedimentation, a time
consuming process in which the water is left undisturbed allowing heavier particles to sink to the bottom.
However, the issue with this method is that dangerous particles are often small and will remain in the water.
Another method is disinfection, in which chemicals, mainly forms of chlorine and ozone, are added to kill
off any pathogens and also to disinfect the pipes and storage systems. Although chlorine is very effective in
destroying all living organisms in the water, it has potentially harmful chemical by-products, and can also
trigger other chemical reactions if an imbalance occurs during the disinfection process.
In this experiment, I chose to test three simpler methods of purifying water: distillation, filtration and
filtration with activated charcoal (carbon adsorption). Distillation involves boiling the water and
condensing the steam in a clean container to remove contamination. Filtration typically removes impurities
by letting the water pass through a fine physical barrier such as sand. Filtration with activated carbon uses
adsorption filtration where the porous material that is charcoal strains the water to remove contaminants
and chemical by-products. Although these methods are not always effective in the long-term, they are
portable, easy to install and adaptable, and especially important in regions where large-scale systems are
unavailable.
AIM AND HYPOTHESIS
AIM:
To find whether distillation, filtration or filtration with activated charcoal (carbon adsorption) is more
effective in purifying water (by testing the pH levels before and after purification).
HYPOTHESIS:
That distillation will be more effective than both methods of filtration when purifying water, and filtration
with activated charcoal will be more effective than ordinary filtration.
MATERIALS
Deionised water
2 250 mL beakers
600 mL of contaminated water
pH pen
4 250mL conical flasks
8 sheets of filter paper
Glass funnel
Activated charcoal
Spatula
Bunsen burner
Match sticks
2 Retort stands Figure 1. Showing the pH pen
Glass stopper being used to measure the
Condenser pH of the original solution
Container (or anything to elevate the conical flask)
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RESULTS
There are three separate parts to this method: Filtration, Filtration with
Independent variable: method of purification Dependent variable: pH level
Activated Charcoal and Distillation. They may be carried out in any
order. Controlled variables: type of contaminated solution, device measuring the pH
Filtration: Funnel
1. Clean all glassware with deionised water prior to using.
2. Fill a 250mL beaker with 100mL of the contaminated water. Measure Filter paper
the pH of the sample using a pH pen (refer to Figure 1), taking care to
clean the pen with deionised water afterwards.
3. Place a sheet of filter paper inside the glass funnel, and place the
funnel into a conical flask (refer to Figure 2).
4. Carefully pour the contaminated water solution from the beaker into
the conical flask through the filter paper and funnel.
5. Set up a new funnel by repeating step 3.
Conical flask
6. Once as much water has passed through the filter paper as possible,
carefully pour the water from one conical flask into the one set up in
step 5, so that the water has been filtered twice.
7. Measure the pH of the newly filtered water using the pH pen and
record the results in Table 1. Figure 2. Showing the set up
8. Repeat steps 1-7 using a new 100mL sample of contaminated water. of the filtration method
Filtration with Activated Charcoal (Carbon Adsorption)
1. Clean all glassware with deionised water prior to using. Funnel
2. Fill a 250mL beaker with 100mL of the contaminated water. Measure Graph 1: Comparison between different methods of purification (the original pH remains at 12.29 for all)
the pH of the sample using a pH pen, taking care to clean the pen with Filter paper
deionised water afterwards.
Activated carbon
3. Place a sheet filter paper inside the glass funnel, and use a spatula to
place some activated charcoal onto the paper. Place another sheet of
filter paper on top (refer to Figure 3).
4. Place the funnel into a conical flask.
5. Carefully pour the contaminated water solution from the beaker into
the conical flask through the filter paper, activated charcoal and funnel.
6. Once as much water has passed through the filter paper as possible, Conical flask
measure and record pH of the newly filtered water using the pH pen.
Record results in a Table 2.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 using a new 100mL sample of contaminated water.
Figure 3. Showing the set up
Distillation of the filtration with
1. Clean all glassware with deionised water prior to using. activated carbon method
2. Fill a 250mL beaker with 100mL of the contaminated water. Measure
the pH of the sample using a pH pen, taking care to clean the pen with
deionised water afterwards. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
3. Set up the distillation according to Figures 4 and 5 with the aid and
From Table 1, we can see that filtration had a very minimal impact on the pH of the water, decreasing by
supervision of a teacher.
less than two in both trials, leaving an extremely basic pH of 10-11. This could be because there were
4. Pour the 100 ml of contaminated water into the distillation conical
flask, and heat the solution over a Bunsen burner until it boils. Make
contaminants in the water than were too small to be filtered through. From Table 2, we can see that
sure the cooling water from the tap is running, so the solution does not filtration with activated charcoal (carbon adsorption) was slightly more successful, with the pH decreasing
overheat. by three each time, down to a still basic average pH of 9.56. I expected this particular method to be more
effective, but it is possible our setup was flawed in that we had trouble keeping the carbon in between the
5. Collect the vapour in a condenser where it changes back into a
liquid, and collect the liquid in the receiving conical flask. two layers of filter paper. From Table 3, we can see that distillation was by far the most effective method of
6. Measure the pH of the distillated water using the pH pen and record purifying water. The resulting pH was 7.70 in the first trial and 7.63 in the second, which is very close to
the results in a Table 3. the neutral pH of actual water, 7.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 using a new sample of contaminated water. There is also a possibility that the results were not fully accurate at times. We tried our best to wash all
glassware we used with deionised water prior to using it, but if we did not do it thoroughly enough some
glass stopper contamination may have remained behind. Also, the pH pen we used was difficult to read, because the pH
it showed was constantly changing. In the end, we chose to use the pH that it displayed for the longest
amount of time. In an attempt to ensure that the results were more accurate and that there were no outliers,
Figure 5. Showing the set up we carried out two trials of each experiment. Since each trial yielded similar results, we saw no cause for
of the distillation method concern. However, if we were to do the experiment again, I would prefer to do a third trial, which we were
not able to do due to time concerns this time. I was also try a find a better method for using activated
charcoal by securing in down somehow so that the water would definitely come in contact with it.
In conclusion, through this experiment I discovered that filtration with activated charcoal (carbon
Figure 4. Labelled set up of adsorption) was slightly more effective than normal filtration, but distillation was much more effective than
distillation method both other methods of purification. Therefore, my hypothesis was supported.
 REFERENCES

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Water. [online] Available at: http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education/quality-water-filtration-method-page2.htm [Accessed
27 Oct. 2017].
Laleva.cc. (2017). THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER. [online] Available at: http://www.laleva.cc/environment/water.html [Accessed 27
Oct. 2017].
TED-Ed. (2017). When is water safe to drink? - Mia Nacamulli. [online] Available at: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/when-is-water-safe-to-
drink-mia-nacamulli#review [Accessed 23 Oct. 2017].
Watertreatmentguide.com. (2017). Activated Carbon Filtration. [online] Available at:
http://www.watertreatmentguide.com/activated_carbon_filtration.htm [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].
World Health Organization. (2017). Drinking-water. [online] Available at: http://www.who.int/topics/drinking_water/en/ [Accessed 27
Oct. 2017].

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Ms Vani, Mr Maaser and Ms Quenault for being there to help us, give us advice and make sure we didn’t do anything too dumb. Thanks to
Jenny and Estelle for being great lab partners even though we all had 3/4 exams throughout the experiment. Also thanks to Vidya, Michelle and Alice
for giving us a hand even though they weren’t in our group!

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