Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can help me. I am a newly graduate teacher and one of my students is doing a research on different soil types one just normal dirt, one with grass and another one with hay mulch. I would like to ask if anyone knows where I can find materials that can explain whether grass can clean water?

Thank you.

Josephine

Hi Josephine!

I found an article on Science Buddies that might help. It's a similar project that deals with water filtration through different materials and it's Background section is very informative on the filtration properties of soil:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/news/article?id=220170

In essence, the soil does filter the water by holding on to pollutants. This is the same way that groundwater is made available the drink. Hope this answered your question, and feel free to ask questions if you have any.

FRickels