Water Filtration

Summary

Active Time

10-20 minutes

Total Project Time

10-20 minutes

Credits

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Introduction

Water is one of the most important resources for life. Here on Earth, we often take it for granted — we can easily get a glass of water from the tap whenever we’re thirsty. But imagine being an astronaut orbiting hundreds of miles above our planet. In space, every drop of water is precious, and there’s no tap to turn on. Transporting water from Earth to the ISS is incredibly expensive and impractical due to the limited cargo space and the high cost of launching supplies. To address this, astronauts rely heavily on advanced water recycling and filtration systems. These systems can recycle water from various sources, including sweat, urine, and even the moisture in the air. This may sound a bit unappealing at first, but modern technology ensures that the water becomes as clean and safe as what you drink every day at home. Let’s embark on this journey to understand the vital role of water purification in space exploration!

This activity is not recommended for use as a science fair project. Good science fair projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data. To find a science fair project that is just right for you, browse our library of over 1,200 Science Fair Project Ideas or use the Topic Selection Wizard to get a personalized project recommendation.

Materials

Empty plastic water bottles (used for filtering)
Clear plastic cup to filter into
Clean rocks of all sizes
Clean sand
Coffee filters
Cloth or cheese cloth
Marbles

Make the dirty water

Give each group a cup of the dirty water
Dirty water can be made by mixing water with sticks, little rocks, dirt, lemonade, etc.

Prep Work

Watch these videos to learn more about how water is filtered on the space station:

Water Recycling on the ISS – Recommended for grades 6-12
Space Station Living: Turning Urine into Drinking Water and Recycling Air – Recommended for grades 6-12

Procedure

Your challenge is to create a filtration system that creates the “cleanest” water. Work in groups to create a filtering system with the materials given. You only have 10 minutes to complete this challenge. The group with the clearest water is the winner.

Digging Deeper

The filtration system on the space station reclaims 93% of the water onboard. Every drop counts! How much water was your team able to conserve?
What was your filter good at filtering out?
What couldn’t it get rid of?
What would you do differently next time?

Further Exploration

Draw your filtration set up and answer the reflection questions and send it to space as Digital Art!

Digital Art

Design and send digital art to space from your device. Your digital art will journey to space and back aboard a Blue Origin rocket on a dedicated hard drive.

Once they have returned from space, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access your postcards.

Visit our website draw.clubforfuture.org to open the digital art platform.