The most efficient way to combat unsafe water in the U.S. is to fight and vote for legislative changes. This is the only way to actively ensure we are drinking clean and safe water. However, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you must sanitize/clean your own water, you can create your own water filtration device!
My Filtration Device:
I decided to create my own filtration device to see if I could take dirty water and turn it into clean water through a series of "sanitation strategies." I used 3 water bottles, cotton balls, and coffee filters to create my device. Other materials that many use in their water filtration devices are gravel, sand, and soil. I tested mine with the cotton ball and coffee filter first to see if it worked, and it did! The coffee filter filtered out much of the soil that was in my sanitized water, and then the cotton ball succeeded in taking out any remaining components. The water at the bottom of my device was successfully clean!
I highly encourage each of you to try and make your own filtration device! Try testing it out with sanitized water, like in the example I showed. Keep in mind during this project that we often take water for granted as a resource, and we must remember that it is not always safe and accessible, and millions die from not having access to it globally. There may come a time when we may actually need to use filtration devices like these if we do not continue to fight for global regulations....