Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Earth and Space Sciences to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Earth and Space Sciences to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
John, looking for a healthy outdoor activity, decided that he would like to start hiking the numerous trails in the Adirondack Parks of New York. His main concern was finding safe, drinkable water while hiking. He found the following information.
Water treatment is important to maintaining your health in the outdoors. Not all water sources are unsafe, but even the most pristine-looking source can make you sick. If livestock, wildlife or humans can reach an area, so can contaminants transmitted via their fecal matter. As more and more of us explore wild places, contamination levels rise. Why play intestinal roulette when you have so many options for treating your water?
Source:
https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/water-treatment-backcountry.html
With all the various choices for water filtration systems on the market, John needed to perform an experiment in order to help him make his decision on which filtration system to purchase. Using local pond water, he poured equal amounts of the pond water through tubes lined with various materials. He then tested the “purified” water for dissolved solids. The data he collected is shown in the table below.
Explain why untreated water from natural sources is often unsafe to drink, even if it appears clean.
John tested water filtered through gravel, sand, charcoal, and cotton. The charcoal filter produced water with the lowest dissolved solids. What conclusion can be drawn from this observation?
Which property of activated charcoal makes it particularly effective for water purification?
Describe how physical and chemical filtration processes differ in how they remove contaminants from water.
Which of the following is most important to consider when choosing a water filtration system for hiking?
Explain how water filtration technology contributes to sustainability in outdoor recreation and survival situations.
Claim:
A multi-layer filtration system provides the best protection for hikers drinking from natural water sources.
Use John’s results and scientific reasoning to support this claim.
Propose one engineering improvement that could make portable filtration systems more efficient or environmentally sustainable.