Wat-er We Drinking???

Collin, Ryan, Tyler, Sage

Our Mission
Our aim for this project was to find out popular ways of filtration that you may use in
the outdoors or in a survival situation. Then, we researched, tested, and found out
how effective each method was and why it was effective.
Brainstorming
When tasked with this project our group did research about all the different types of
portable water filtration devices and decided that we would further research the items
that we already had and other similar filters. We figured we would cut it in half and
gather data and research the chemistry of the various devices.
Filtration Straw
● Filtration elements
○ Multiple larger filters
■ Sorts out larger contaminants first
○ .01 microns membrane with micro fibrous tubes
■ Sorts out many harmful pathogens that are in the water
○ p(GAC) and High POLY-IODINE
■ Iodine helps kill off giardia cysts and other harmful pathogens
○ Activated carbon
■ Used to remove the taste of the water so it isn’t unpleasant to drink

pH ppm
Before: 8.4 After: 8.1 Before: 99 After: 121

Before: 8.5 After: 8.12 Before: 97 After: 124

Before: 8.1 After: 8.2 Before: 98 After: 126

Pros of the Filtration Straw
● Cheap alternative to other filtration methods
● Iodine kills most harmful pathogens
● Sorts out “99.9999% of bacteria”
● Lightweight and easy to use
● Immediate use
● Long lifetime of 1000+ gallons
Cons
● Many filtration straws don’t have iodine, so they won’t kill viruses found in many
3rd world countries
● Cannot transport water using a filtration straw
● Recommended only in developed, clean countries
Refresh2go Water bottle Filter pH ppm

Before: 8.2 After: 7.1 Before: 101 After:111

● Flitration elements
○ Filter paper with unknown sized pores Before: 8.0 After: 8.2 Before: 96 After: 104
○ Activated carbon
Before: 7.6 After: 7.4 Before: 99 After: 108
Pros
● Transportable and lightweight
● Connects to a straw in a plastic water bottle
● Activated carbon protects against bad taste
Cons
● Not recommended in use of virus filled water
○ Nothing to protect against giardia cysts and other pathogens
● Only compatible with certain water bottle straws
● Only has a lifetime 40 gallon filter capacity
Boiling Water
● Burns out harmful bacteria and pathogens
● First, filter out large debri with a cloth, then let boil

For this, our tests were pretty inconclusive. Our pH and ppm
meters didn’t change in their tests that we ran with them

ppm pH
Before: 97 After:167 Before: 6.8 After: 6.9

Before: 101 After: 157 Before: 7.2 After: 7.2

Before: 99 After: 183 Before: 8.5 After: 8.6

Measurements were taken at

high temp.
Pros
● Burns out some harmful pathogens

That’s it
Cons
● Doesn’t remove any dissolved solids
○ Solids such as lead can still be left in water, which is very harmful
● After 24 hrs there is a very high chance of contamination
● Won’t make “hard” water any better, still will be harmful minerals that don’t get
filtered out
● Long waiting period to drink the water
The Verdict
From further research, we concluded that our most effective method of filtration that
we tested was the filtration straw. Although the tests we ran were inconclusive,
through research we determined it was the best because of these main reasons:

● The use of iodine kills off giardia

● Multiple .01 micron membranes help filter out many harmful bacteria
● Very easy to take with you and transport
Why and When was it Created?
The lifestraw was created in 2005 by Vestergaard Frandsen and launched in 2006 so
that less fortunate countries and places around the world without clean accessible
water would have the ability to filter microorganisms and bacteria out of their
drinking water.

The lifestraw has been implemented in 64 different countries and has aided and saved
hundreds of thousands of lives.
Other Popular Portable Filtration Options
● Sawyer Squeeze
○ Pouch that you fill w/ water and squeeze through a filter very similar to the straw
● Water treatment tablets or drops
○ Forms such as iodine or chlorine kill of harmful pathogens in water, doesn’t take out anything large
● Pump filter
○ Hand pumps push water through multiple small membranes, and are very effective
● Gravity filter
○ A gravity filter is a filter that takes advantage of gravity to remove contaminants from the water
What We Should’ve Done

With all the tests we ran, we should have used a microscope along with the PH meter
and the dissolved salts meter. If we used a microscope we could have got a more
conclusive result on which one of the methods would be best.