Primitive Water Filter

How long it’ll take:

40 mins

What the goal is:

Campers will successfully build a water filtration system using household items.

What the objectives are:

Campers will understand how different size particles help filter dirty water.

What you’ll need:

• 1 empty plastic 2L bottle cut in half (its okay if you have a smaller one), or plastic/paper cup with a small hole cut in the bottom for water filtration activity.

• 1 clear glass/jar to filter water into

• Filter barrier (coffee filter, paper towel, cloth, or similar)

• Filtration materials- As many of these different items as you have! (4-5 cotton balls, 1 cup sand, 1 cup gravel, 1 cup pebbles, 1 cup rice, 1 cup popcorn kernels, activated charcoal, whatever you have!)

• 1 glass of “dirty water” (water mixed with dirt from outside)

What you’ll do:

1. If you are using a plastic bottle cut in half, flip the top part (the part that has the spout that you usually pour out of) upside down and put it in a glass that is small enough so the bottle sticks in there.

2. If you are using a paper cup, cut a small hole in the bottom and put the cup into a glass that it can stick into. Note: You want to filter into something that is clear so you can see the filtered water!

3. Take your coffee filters (or paper towels, cloth, etc.) and put it at the bottom of your funnel.

4. Take your filter material (sand, gravel, activated charcoal, popcorn kernels, rice, cotton balls, etc.) and layer it with the finer items going at the bottom, and each subsequent layer with larger material (ex: sand then cotton balls, then rice, then popcorn, then rocks). Try to make each layer about 1 inch thick if you can.

5. Once you’ve completed your filter, take your cup of dirty water (water mixed with dirt, coffee grounds, glitter, whatever!) and pour it slowly into your water filter. Be sure to have a cup ready to catch the ‘filtered water’ as it comes out of your device.

6. DO NOT drink “filtered water”