Design an experiment to test drinking water filter cartridge?

Question

I would like to perform a test to see if my Brita Filter cartridge is still effective. What would be your suggestion in designing an experiment to test the water filtered by these cartridge?

I have access to use microscope, petri dishes, incubator, x-ray diffraction machine, gas chromatography, pH meter, and regular chemical experiment equipments.

thanks in advance

Answer 1

You need to test the water before and after filtration. This will let you determine what, if anything, the filter removed (or added) to (from) the water.

The microscope can be used to detect particulates. The petri dishes, and incubator can be used for microbial (bacteria and fungi) growth, but the shouldn't be any microbes in your drinking water before you filter it. The govenment has a TMDL of 0 for all microbes.

I'm not sure how X-ray difraction works and I believe gas chromatography take a small amount of a solid material and vaporizes it, so I don't think it would work.

You can test pH before and after, but that won't give you very much information.

Answer 2

Oh yes, I would be interested, too....!
I assume you are talking about those expensive cartridges which you attach to the spout, and which look like mini-oil filters?
I am using these, for my well water, to filter rust and limestone solids out, and I found, whenever the green LED changes to yellow, I just take the cartridge out, and the SAME one back in, and I can repeat that several times, and it still seems to function perfectly...But then again, I only check for solids (because I use a separate ultraviolet biological filter).
The first thing we would need to do is establish what is "good" and what is "bad". Or in other words, what does Brita actually guarantee? I have not seen that kind of detail, especially things like e-coli count or such....

Answer 3

I regarded up what they are made up of: the prevalent pitcher replace clear out is made up of ion replace resin and granular activated carbon. The PUR Plus Pitcher replace clear out includes ion replace resin and granular activated carbon enclosed interior a pleated microfilter. The microfilter helps the removal of microbiological cysts including Cryptosporidium and Giardi. The clear out includes an antimicrobial agent to extend the existence of the clear out. The contaminants or different components bumped off or decreased by using this unit at the instant are not inevitably in all consumers' water. In great scale structures, activated carbon could be rejuvenated by using heating and ion replace (the little plastic beads) could be rejuvenated by using salt suggestions. case in point, my mum and dad have an ion replace unit that treats their properly water and that they should upload salt to a rejuvenating answer that backflushes (elutes) the column periodically. The microfilters at the instant are not extremely unquestionably wiped sparkling and could ought to be replaced, in spite of if pressurized lower back-flushing ought to boost the existence of those filters in a great gadget. The economics of scale with pitcher-sized contraptions makes it uneconomical to accomplish any recycling so disposal looks with reference to the only selection. (i've got labored on commercial and institutional sized water treatment structures over the final 15 years as component to my interest). this could be a style of dilemmas that looks to take place lots once you attempt to do the desirable element. you have ended up paying for and advertising one waste product for yet another. the concern raised by using the above internet link that the filters are poisonous time bombs is deceptive. the point of contaminants captured from filtering some hundred gallons of water is trivial. in actuality, the presence of the adsorbing components will restoration contaminants contemporary interior the landfill leachate and help avert their migrition into the organic ecosystem. the concern with disposing filters is in simple terms which you're tossing away a stable waste that extremely would not ought to be disposed. I doubt that the filters located interior the recycling packing containers extremely get recycled. I extremely have been to quite a few sorting centers (I do extremely some environmental inspections) and non-recyclables are bumped off manually on a sorting line (it is a poor interest i could think of, choosing by using human beings's trash all day long, and it smells). something remote from the line is despatched to landfill.