Week Nine (May 29th, 2018 - June 5th, 2018)

       This week we finally did it! We finally figured out a way to filter out the metal solution. As you may have read in blog posts from previous weeks, our group has faced many challenges and ordeals in this short ten week period. However, during this class period, we engineered the most elaborate filter with the materials that we simulated that we would have in case of a nuclear war. 

Finish Design

       Olivia and I (Laurynn) came up with this design after many trial and error attempts. We decided to add three new elements in this final design, those being orange peels, baking soda, and basil. We added these three materials because based off of previous research there are certain chemical properties that could help eliminate the metal in the solution. Although the orange peels did not work too well from the week before, we decided to test it out again and give it another try. 

	Sand (mixture) [g]	Act. Charcoal [g]	Baking Soda	Regular Charcoal [g]	Sand (on top) [g]	Basil
Trial 1	88.3	1.4	8.1	55.2	226.5	----
Trial 2	89	1.5	14.6	51.1	225.9	63.4
Trial 3	94	1.1	12	52.4	220.1	60

        We conducted three different tests with the new material and we found that the second test worked the best. So, the final construction of the prototype consisted of a layer of 89.3 g of sand and 1.6 g of activated charcoal mixed together above the filter paper, 14.6 g of baking soda, 51.1 g of regular charcoal, 63.4 g of finely chopped basil, 225.5 g of sand, and 6 slices of alcohol-treated orange peels.

Final design filtering out clean water

        After working on this project for ten weeks, it feels amazing that we were able to see our hard work pay off. It was truly, such a remarkable experience, to be fully immersed in this project and being able to use our minds in creative and critical ways. 

Week Eight (May 22nd, 2018 - May 28th, 2018)

       This week our group focused on making a final model of our prototype. For weeks, we had been going back in forth with our design and alternating between materials and weight of those materials. Olivia and I (Laurynn) focused on continually testing the three different solutions, organic, metal, and bacteria. The main solution that was giving us an issue was the metal solution because for some reason we could not filter it out completely. Also this week, Amy and Stefan tested alternative materials once again to see if those materials could help with the filtration of the metal solution. In the table below, it shows the qualitative data that they collected.

Qualitative Data

	Material	Result
Trial 1	Chopped cilantro	FAIL
Trial 2	Coffee Grounds	FAIL
Trial 3	Crushed black walnut shells	FAIL
Trial 4	Orange Peels (soaked in alcohol)	FAIL

       As you can see from this table and the qualitative data from last week, the plight of finding an alternative material that could help filtrate the metal solution has not been successful. However, in the next week, we will figure out some type of solution and find a way to filter out the metal solution.

Testing our newest prototype

       Olivia and I figured out that the more distinct layers that we had with our main materials, the better the filtration would be for any solution. We decided to keep using the Simply Lemonade bottle that is 1.5 L, but we began adding more mass to the already added materials. In the table below, you will see the different trial runs that Olivia and I tested. 

Trial Runs

	Sand (mixture) [g]	Act. Charcoal [g]	Regular Charcoal [g]	Sand (on top) [g]	Results
Trial 1	112.2	1.2	55.3	115.1	FAIL
Trial 2	89.3	1.6	60.6	269.2	FAIL
Trial 3	92.1	1.3	56.7	205.9	FAIL

       

       I would like to point out as well, that in this class we did not have one of our very important supplies, that being the coffee filter paper. So, there was some leakage in out makeshift filter paper. Which, could have caused some of the colors from the different solutions to leak out. 

First trial run outcome (left) and Second trial run outcome (right)

       As you can see in the pictures above, our filtration system is not perfect. In this class, Professor Caroline Schauer made the organic solution much stronger than any of the organic solutions that we tested. So, in the first trial run, we tested all three solutions, however, one most notably sees the pink hue from the organic solution. However, in the second trial run Olivia and I better planned to filtrate the pink hue, so the light tinge of blue with a hint of pink, was the resultant of our second trial. Although this was not the clear filtered water that we were hoping to get this was definitely in the right direction. 

Third and final trial run outcome

       In this final trial run that we ran, this shows that our filtration prototype is definitely in working condition. It filtered out all of the solutions, but only a little blue hue remains in the water. Which retrospectively, is not terrible, but it is fixable. Next week, Olivia and I are going to finalize our prototype and find a solution to have perfectly clean and clear water. 

Week Seven (May 15th, 2018 - May 21st, 2018)

      In this week's lab, the group tackled many different things. Amy and Stefan focused on finding alternative solutions that could attempt to rectify our issue with the metal solution not being completely filtered by our design. Down below, I will share those alternatives. Laurynn and Oliva focused on creating a more cohesive prototype design while retesting the organic, metal, and bacteria solutions, and also brainstorming ways to create a better flow rate. In the first table, this shows all of the qualitative tests that were done with different materials, in order to filter out the blue copper solution.

	Material	Mass (g)	Result
Trial 1	Pistachio Shells	66.3	FAIL
Trial 2	Crushed Pist. Shells	85	FAIL
Trial 3	Pistachio Nuts	74.2	FAIL
Trial 4	Cucumber	91.7	FAIL
Trial 5	Crushed Cucumber	42.1	FAIL
Trial 6	Sawdust	55.3	FAIL

The Pistachio Shell's qualitative test

      Interesting enough, when the sawdust and the blue copper solution were combined, it made a yellowish green mixture that turned out to be chromium. A chemical substance that is really dangerous to consume, so not the best solution for filtration. While these qualitative tests were going on, Laurynn and Olivia were more focused on perfecting the group's prototype and retesting all of the solutions. 

Olivia preparing our prototype

        The two began to use a similar orientation of the materials for the first trial run. In the first prototype, they decided to mix the sand, activated charcoal, and the chunky charcoal altogether. They decided to increase the sand from last time, in order to prevent some charcoal residue from leaking into the filtered water. 

      Within the first trial, we were able to filter out both the organic and bacteria solutions, however, we still faced a problem with the metal solution. The flow rate was still the same from last week because we maintained relatively the same measurements, with the exception of the sand. In the second trial, Olivia and I figured that we do multiple layers. So, the base layer was comprised of 92.2 g of sand, 1.0 g of activated charcoal and 7.5 g of the regular or chunky charcoal. Then the chunky charcoal had a layer of its own above that measuring in at 8.4 g. Then, the final layer was comprised of 70.5 g of sand. 

	Sand	Act. Charcoal	R. Char
Trial 1	91	1.2	15.4
Trial 2	162.7	1	15.9

      The ordering method that we used in the second trial worked better universally with all of the solutions, opposed to the first trial. Next week, we will finally hone in and have a permanent model of our filtration device. 
      

Week Six (May 8th, 2018 - May 14th, 2018)

         During this week's lab, we primarily focused on performing a series of tests in order to see how successful our design was in filtering out the different solutions in the lab. First, we performed organic solution testing, which essentially is a solution that is mixed with pink dye. And then we performed the metal solution testing which had calcium ions and was a bluish color. We continued with the design that we created and tested last week. The design was sand and the activated charcoal mixed together with a filter paper attached to the bottom of the bottle. We used this specific design for two trial runs.

Trial one is being tested

	Sand Mass	Charcoal Mass	Time	Tested
Trial 1	60.2 g	1.0 g	16:54	40 mL Organic Solution -> 30 mL clear water
Trial 2	60.2 g	1.0 g	15:28	50 mL Metal Solution -> 23 mL light blue water

         The first trial run that we tested the organic solution was filtered right out of the water. 75% of the water was filtered out by our design, while the remaining was soaked up by the sand and charcoal mixer. In the second trial run, we lightly patted down the mixture, so any remaining mixture was removed. We tested the metal solution in the same design and only 46% of the water was filtered and the remaining was trapped in the sand and activated charcoal mixture. However, with these two trials, we realized that our flow rate was extremely low. So, we were adamant about trying to improve not only the flow rate, but our design overall due to the metal solution that still appeared in the "filtered" water. 

Olivia is working on our updated design

The third trial is underway

       We came up with a solution to help increase the flow rate in our design. The main reason that our flow rate was so low was due to our usage of 2L soda bottles that we were using had such a concentrated opening that the water was being forced out at such a slow rate. We opted to change the bottle that we had been using for the past five weeks and we were able to secure a Simply Lemonade bottle. A bottle that has a larger neck and larger surface area. We also added a new component, charcoal chunks, in our sand and activated charcoal mixture. The filtered paper at the nozzle of the bottle was kept the same way. 

	Sand Mass	Act. Charcoal Mass	Reg. Charcoal Mass	Time	Tested
Trial 3	60.2 g	1.10 g	1.5 g	0.45	50 mL Org. Sol. -> 37mL clear water
Trial 4	90.9 g	0.9 g	15.7	2:23	50 mL Metal Sol. -> 62 mL faint pink and blue

       Now that we used a completely different bottle, in the third trial we used the same amount of material that we had been using previously using. The results were extremely great. The flow rate had increased significantly and also the organic solution was filtered right out. In the fourth trial, we increased the sand mass, in order to, filter out larger volumes of water at one time. The activated charcoal was decreased slightly because we realized that a lot of it causes it to clump together and that is because it heavily absorbs the water. We increased the chunky charcoal, in order to mitigate the metal solution and reduce the bluish color. 

       We did not realize, but the previously absorbed solution was still trapped in the mixture, so more of the solution was present that we had initially thought. In the video above, it shows the filtration of our design. 

       In the table below, is the calculated flow rates from the trial tests. 

	Velocity of Liquid (mL / min)	Area of Channel (in^2)	Flow rate
Trial 1	2.42	44.96784147	108.8221764
Trial 2	3.27	44.96784147	147.0448416
Trial 3	1111.1	67.42772672	74918.94716
Trial 4	22.42	67.42772672	1511.729633

       Next week, we will continue testing the metal solution and we will move onto the bacteria solution testing. 

Week Five (May 1st, 2018 - May 7th, 2018)

      This week we focused on testing our design. In the previous weeks, we drew two different designs that had similar filtration materials. However, one design was condensed and compacted into one two-liter bottle, while the other design was spread out into multiple filtration units. During week two, we decided on the first design, mainly because it fits more with the scenario that we were tasked with in the beginning. We decided that our first layer would be the sand, then charcoal, then legos. Each layer will be funneled into our soda bottle with coffee filter papers. The end of the bottle, where the opening is located will have two filter papers folded into fours, placed on it with a rubber band. Down below, I have made a chart that indicates each trial that we performed and the results associated with it. 

      In this class period, we performed the organic solution testing. This was done with a pink solution created by our Professor Caroline Schauer. This test was primarily done in order to see if our design concept could filter out the bright pink dye to clear water. 

Trial Data

	Sand Mass	Charcoal Mass	Time	PASS OR FAIL
Trial 1 (w/ Filter paper)	120.5 g	3.62 g	10:08	FAIL - No water was filtered
Trial 2 (w/ Filter paper)	60.2 g	2.57 g	15:00	FAIL - Only a few drops were filtered
Trial 3 (w/o Filter paper)	60.4 g	2.0 g	13:00	FAIL - About 2 mL were filtered
Trial 4 (w/ Filter paper)	60.4 g	1.0 g	14:30	FAIL - Little bit of water was filtered

Laurynn is pouring the organic solution in our first trial

The first trial was definitely a learning process for our group. We went to the lab to test our design and during testing, we realized that our design had too many substances within it. So, therefore our first design did not filter any water.

Filtration is slowly occurring in the second trial

After the results of the first trial, we decided to reduce the materials but started with the same testing method by using the filter paper. This time the design filtered out a few drops of water, but it still was not that successful. 

Olivia holding up the bottle in the third trial

In the third trial, we decided to try something completely new. We thought with all of the additional coffee filter papers that that was the sole reason such little was being filtered out. This method worked a little bit better, but still the results were not meeting our standards.

Final trial testing of the organic solution

In our last test, we decided to go back to our original testing methods. We used the same amount of material that we did in the second and third trials. However, we used water to flush out the organic solution. Although that did not drastically change our results, it definitely caused some water to be filtered out a little bit better. 

Week Four (April 24th, 2018 - April 30th, 2018)

This week our group primarily focused on testing our different materials. For this class period, we decided to test the filtration capabilities of(cleaned) sand, charcoal, and the coffee filters. For each material, we performed at least three trial tests. However, we tested charcoal four times, based on the fact that the charcoal that we were using is very fine, so it required more testing to figure out the appropriate amount of charcoal for the filtration layers. In our testing, the controlled variable was the volume of water that we attempted to filter. The dependent variable was time, while the independent variable was the amount of the different substances that we decided to test our filtration techniques on. 

The dirty water actively being filtered by the charcoal

Stefan and Amy testing the sand

 Sample Data

Material	Time(min)	Weight (g)	Volume (mL)
Charcoal -T1	5:24	0.89	400
Charcoal - T2	8:31	1.12	400
Charcoal - T3	7:04	2	400
Charcoal - T4	12:40	3.81	400
Coffee Filter - T1	1:03	1.6	400
Coffee Filter - T2	2:00	3.2	400
Coffee Filter - T3	1:09	4.8	400
Sand - T1	9:45	122.4	400
Sand - T2	4:48	35.5	400
Sand - T3	12:53	61.1	400
* One Coffee Filter Paper weighs 0.80 g
* Throughout charcoal testing, coffee filter and a staple was used (weight was accounted for)

This is the data that we gained from all of our testings. Next week, we will be putting together a prototype and will be testing it against the organic solution and metal solution that our teacher has created for us.