Reflection
The filter is our invention and our goal is to turn sea water's pH level closer to the pH level of drinkable water with limited resources which represent the natural sources. Our invention is successful despite the fact that it was not as efficient as what we originally planned. According to Data Table 1 and 2, we only had 12 mL of collected water after two hours. Also, the water that was evaporated and condensed was not stable. The amount of water evaporated and condensed for the first half hour is only 2 mL, and the next two half-hours is 3 mL, then the last half-hour had 4 mL of water evaporated and condensed. It shows that you may not get as much water as you expect even though you are desperate for water. Since our goal is to change the pH level, so the efficiency did not affect our success.
The pH level of the sea water was originally 5.5 according to Chart 3 and 4 , which means that the sea water was a little acidic. After going through our filter by evaporating and condensing the water, the water we collected's pH became 6.5, which is only 0.5 away from natural drinking water. Normal drinking water's pH level should be a 7 but because of some pollution, water are becoming more acidic. Just for curiosity purposes, we tried to test the pH scale of the tap water, which was suggested by the result to be somewhat around 6.8. From that, we learned that the water we collected after the filtering is probably ok for people to drink based on the pH level (Not including bacterias level etc)
Although the final product was successful and it fulfilled its original goal, we still had a few disappointments. For the testing, it was supposed to be done in the wild or a natural environment with the sun replacing the lights and the rich soil ground replacing the black tarp. Since it is winter now in Vancouver, we could not complete the project with a shining sun. Instead we decided to use two medium power lights instead of the sun and a black tarp instead of the ground. Secondly, we did not make the room temperature high enough or the light strong enough. Therefore, the amount of water dripped down (result) was not as sufficient as we hoped. Next time, we could create an environment exactly like a specific city in China in the summer. We could add elements like accurate temperature, humidity, watts of light, etc. Lastly, when we were recording data from time to time, we had to take out the water to calculate how much water we've collected which made the filter lose some of its heat. If we add these elements next time, the result should be more sufficient and our invention would work faster and more easily.
Thank you for reading our Science Expo Website! :D
The pH level of the sea water was originally 5.5 according to Chart 3 and 4 , which means that the sea water was a little acidic. After going through our filter by evaporating and condensing the water, the water we collected's pH became 6.5, which is only 0.5 away from natural drinking water. Normal drinking water's pH level should be a 7 but because of some pollution, water are becoming more acidic. Just for curiosity purposes, we tried to test the pH scale of the tap water, which was suggested by the result to be somewhat around 6.8. From that, we learned that the water we collected after the filtering is probably ok for people to drink based on the pH level (Not including bacterias level etc)
Although the final product was successful and it fulfilled its original goal, we still had a few disappointments. For the testing, it was supposed to be done in the wild or a natural environment with the sun replacing the lights and the rich soil ground replacing the black tarp. Since it is winter now in Vancouver, we could not complete the project with a shining sun. Instead we decided to use two medium power lights instead of the sun and a black tarp instead of the ground. Secondly, we did not make the room temperature high enough or the light strong enough. Therefore, the amount of water dripped down (result) was not as sufficient as we hoped. Next time, we could create an environment exactly like a specific city in China in the summer. We could add elements like accurate temperature, humidity, watts of light, etc. Lastly, when we were recording data from time to time, we had to take out the water to calculate how much water we've collected which made the filter lose some of its heat. If we add these elements next time, the result should be more sufficient and our invention would work faster and more easily.
Thank you for reading our Science Expo Website! :D