You know where drinking water comes from, but where does the dirty water go? Down the sewer. Sewer water is filtered to remove solids before it is pumped into lakes and streams. This activity will help you see how water is filtered in nature and in a processing plant. But you must never drink your filtered water. It may look clean but it could still have germs in it.
You Will Need:
- an empty plastic bottle muddy water clean gravel
- a small jar with a mouth big enough to fit around the plastic
- bottle
- scissors
- cotton wool balls
- small, clean pebbles
- clean sand
What to Do:
1. Ask an adult to help you cut off the bottom part of the plastic bottle, about 18 centimetres from the cap.
2. Turn the top part of the bottle upside down and place it in the jar.
3. Push a wad of cotton balls into the neck of the bottle. Put in a layer of small pebbles, then a layer of gravel, then a layer of wet sand.
4. Pour some muddy water onto the sand and watch it drip through into the bottom of the bottle.
5. The water that filters through looks cleaner. What happens when you pour the water through the filter a second time? Does it look cleaner still? It is cleaner. Even so, it is not clean enough to drink. Do NOT drink it.
Picture Credit : Google
