The Efficiency of Low Cost Water Treatment Methods at Removing Bacteria From Runoff

Author(s)

Savannah Smith

School Name

Heathwood Hall Episcopal School

Grade Level

10th Grade

Presentation Topic

Environmental Science

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Abstract

The lack of clean drinking water is a global problem that affects millions daily. This experiment examines the effectiveness of different low-cost water treatment methods at removing bacteria from runoff. The null hypothesis claims that the amount of bacteria remaining in the solution will be the same regardless of the method completed. The hypothesis is that the amount of bacteria remaining in the solution will vary depending on the water purification technique used. Natural sunlight, draining through coffee filters, and boiling over an open flame were the three methods tested on runoff from two different locations. The tested runoff was then spread on agar plates and set for an incubation period of 48 hours, with each method using 20 agar plates. Untested runoff was also spread on agar plates and served as a control group. After 48 hours, bacterial colonies in each dish were counted and recorded, and both averages and medians of the data collected for each method per location were found. Percentages showing the effectiveness of each method were calculated using the average bacterial count after treatment divided by the average bacterial count before treatment. The same was done for the median data to provide another perception of the results. Boiling proved to be the most effective method at removing bacteria from runoff collected at both locations.

Location

Furman Hall 227

Start Date

3-28-2020 11:00 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 28th, 11:00 AM

The Efficiency of Low Cost Water Treatment Methods at Removing Bacteria From Runoff

Furman Hall 227

The lack of clean drinking water is a global problem that affects millions daily. This experiment examines the effectiveness of different low-cost water treatment methods at removing bacteria from runoff. The null hypothesis claims that the amount of bacteria remaining in the solution will be the same regardless of the method completed. The hypothesis is that the amount of bacteria remaining in the solution will vary depending on the water purification technique used. Natural sunlight, draining through coffee filters, and boiling over an open flame were the three methods tested on runoff from two different locations. The tested runoff was then spread on agar plates and set for an incubation period of 48 hours, with each method using 20 agar plates. Untested runoff was also spread on agar plates and served as a control group. After 48 hours, bacterial colonies in each dish were counted and recorded, and both averages and medians of the data collected for each method per location were found. Percentages showing the effectiveness of each method were calculated using the average bacterial count after treatment divided by the average bacterial count before treatment. The same was done for the median data to provide another perception of the results. Boiling proved to be the most effective method at removing bacteria from runoff collected at both locations.