This week we came prepared in the lab with all of our materials. Last week's post listed all of the materials that we planned on using for our design. This current week picked the first sketch for our design for filtering the water. It is more compiled and it is one system. The top layer is filled with legos, then charcoal, and then finally the sand.
We came up with a few justifications of why we have certain materials in our bunker so that our design water filtration is as realistic as possible in the case of a nuclear war. The purpose of the legos is mainly for entertainment purposes because, in a bunker, entertainment is confined to the indoors. Therefore, being able to build something keeps the mind busy and active even though it is confined indoors. The large plastic bottles exist in the bunker due to soda bottles being in the bunker. Sand is integral in the bunker to help absorb any leaks in the bunker and it is important building component, in order to secure the foundation of the bunker. Charcoal is another component that will be in a bunker because of the burned ashes from the wood that warms the entire bunker. Rubber bands, cotton balls, duct tape, and coffee filters are all common materials that are found in everyone's home and are used for a variety of things.
In class (April 16, 2018), we focused mainly on conducting tests with each and every layer that we planned on using in our design. First, we cut the top of one of the two-liter bottles by a fourth, so the bottom was completely opened.
The first layer we tested was the legos because we wanted to see if it was a suitable replacement for gravel. However, we used the makeup cotton pad and a rubber band on the neck of the soda bottle, in order to keep the legos inside the bottle. However, when we started to filter the water, we forgot to take in consideration that nothing was holding down the legos. So, the legos just floated on top of the water. From that, we realized either we needed to keep the legos in one uniform case or we could not test it without another substance.
The next layer we tested was the sand, prior, we were concerned that our sand was too soft. However, we realized it was the perfect texture. We initially, weighed the sand at about 244.83 g and added about 260 mL of water to the filtration bottle for about 10 minutes. The sand helped filter the water, however, we forgot to take into consideration that the sand was dirty. So, the water came out a little browner than what we had anticipated. We did a few different tests, with different volumes of sand, in order to gain some type of idea of how much sand would be needed in our final design.
The last layer we tested was the charcoal. This layer was a little harder than what we had expected for a few different reasons. The charcoal that we obtained was a little bit finer than what we had expected, so it was not as compact. None of us in the group had a clear idea of how much charcoal would be needed in order to filter out the right amount of materials. We tested two different samples: one test the charcoal was weighing in at 42.8 g, while the other test was at 15.6 g. Both amounts were way too much and did a poor job filtering out clean water. Next week, we will figure out the appropriate amount of charcoal works.
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