Filtration refers to the process of separating a mixture by a filter.  It is part of our everyday life.  Filters are used for coffee making, draining food, and cleaning water.  The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate the use of media filtration, a process that is widely used by water treatment plants for purifying drinking water.  This lab begins with having students add a coagulant to a synthetic muddy water that leads to particle aggregation and sedimentation.  They will then create a packed sand column as the filter, which will be used to filter the water.  Alternatively, the students will also be asked to filter the water through a cotton cloth which acts as a filter media.  By comparing the clarity of the incoming and product waters, the effect of media filtration can be demonstrated.  The students will also be asked to use the column to filter a dye solution.  The lack of change in color should indicate what the filter is not designed for, which can lead to discussions on other water treatment processes for specific removal of other contaminants. 

Sandia National Laboratories • National Risk Management Research Lab • U of Illinois • Clark Atlanta • Yale • MIT • Rose-Hulman •U of Michigan Howard University • UC Berkeley
Contact Us
This web site is supported primarily by NSF Agreement Number CTS-0120978.
© 2006 The Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois.