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.