While perfect for a elementary school science project, a home made water purifier has no other purpose. The most common type of home made water purifier for a science project is the rope in a bowl experiment.
Composed of three feet of yarn, two bowls, an eight inch tall box, and a quantity of dirty water, its ease of construction parallels its limited use. One bowl is filled with dirty water and placed on top of the box, the other bowl is placed at the base of the box, and the yarn is cut into three equal segments and twisted together to form a sort of rope.
The elevated bowl is filled with a quantity of dirty water, one end of the yarn-rope is placed in the dirty water, and the other end is placed in the empty bowl at the base of the box. Eventually the yarn will soak up the water and deposit it in the empty bowl, slightly cleaner than it was before.
You'll notice the largest particles of dirt remain in the elevated bowl and the smaller particles of dirt will brown the yarn. What you won't notice (without a microscope) is every microorganism and chemical will be mostly unaffected by this very rudimentary filtration process, and the water will still be far from drinkable.
Any other type of home made water purifier is just as rudimentary and pointless, for they lack the specialized components of commercial and professional filters. All heavy metals, chemicals, parasites, and bacteria will pass through any sort of home constructed filter.
In order to remove chemicals, you need activated carbon. In order to remove, parasites and bacteria, you need micron filtration. No matter how "handy" you are, you cannot construct this stuff on your own.
Other special filters are required to remove things like lead, a problem that even large water treatment facilities cannot address. In many cities across America, government representatives are advising residents to filter their drinking water, before they consume it, due to high lead content. You cannot make a filter that blocks lead on your own.
Now, if all you wanted was a way to educate your children on water filtration, go ahead an construct a home made water purifier, but afterwards you may want to schedule a field trip to a water treatment facility. There your children would be bombarded by the amount of hardware and labor that goes into making water drinkable.
Make no mistake about it, they will see that their little home made water purifier is simply a toy.
Warren Conley is an avid proponent of natural health and a researcher of water purification systems. To learn about the water filtration system that Warren recommends after extensive research, visit http://www.TheNewAndHealthyYou.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Warren_Conley
RSS Feed (xml)
