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High schoolers develop an inexpensive filter to remove lead from tap water
ACS ^ | 23 Mar 2022 | American Chemical Society

Posted on 03/23/2022 11:26:36 PM PDT by blueplum

...Bushway, a science teacher at Barrie Middle and Upper School, wondered aloud to her upper-level high school chemistry class if there was a little filter — similar to the ones that are made for camping to purify water — that they could make from inexpensive components to easily remove lead. The students were excited about the idea, and they started thinking about the project in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions kept them out of the classroom. While at home, the team met virtually and discussed designs for an attachment to screw a filter onto a sink’s faucet. Then in the spring semester of 2021, when they returned to the classroom, they 3D printed the attachment and a 3-inch-tall filter housing, using a biodegradable plastic. Their final step was to fill the cartridges with a mixture of calcium phosphate and potassium iodide powder....

...And while the chemistry itself is pretty straightforward, crafting the water filtration system to do what the researchers intended has been more complicated. For instance, calcium phosphate tends to clump up, causing the reaction rate between it and lead to go down as the surface area decreases. So, the team’s lead student engineer incorporated hexagonal bevels inside the filter....

(Excerpt) Read more at acs.org ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: chemistry; leadpipes; maryland; water
pretty nifty

maybe upsize it for water main connects before it ever gets into the home?

1 posted on 03/23/2022 11:26:36 PM PDT by blueplum
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To: blueplum

Just make it for the screw in cartridge size filter blocks.


2 posted on 03/23/2022 11:31:56 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: blueplum

Don’t existing faucet filters already remove lead?🤔


3 posted on 03/24/2022 12:20:29 AM PDT by BiteYourSelf ( Earth first we'll strip mine the other planets later.)
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To: blueplum

Cool, we can start using lead pipes again!

Cheap and easy to work with.


4 posted on 03/24/2022 2:18:50 AM PDT by fruser1
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To: blueplum

Where was ClockBoy on this?


5 posted on 03/24/2022 3:14:54 AM PDT by JohnnyP (Thinking is hard work (I stole that from Rush).)
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To: BiteYourSelf

Yeah - but this one was made by high school students. So that makes it better.

/sarcasm


6 posted on 03/24/2022 3:56:42 AM PDT by sipow
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To: blueplum

I don’t know...

Those kids sound kind of white to me...


7 posted on 03/24/2022 4:00:55 AM PDT by Jim Noble (Who saves the nation breaks no law)
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To: blueplum

Ping. I’m gonna keep an eye on this. I could use one, or two, or several!


8 posted on 03/24/2022 4:05:11 AM PDT by ducttape45 (Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.")
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To: blueplum

They might be able to make them at a cost of $1 each, but after you add in packaging, shipping, warehousing and distribution, retailing, marketing, and general and administrative expenses, they will have to retail for upwards of $10 each.

It’s not cheap to get stuff from Southeast Asia to the American consumer.


9 posted on 03/24/2022 4:42:23 AM PDT by FarCenter
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To: fruser1

Cool, we can start using lead pipes again!
- = - = -

It’s a cinch!


10 posted on 03/24/2022 5:29:13 AM PDT by pa_dweller (Let's all go out for ice cream.)
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To: blueplum

Great, now do that other neurotoxin - fluoride.


11 posted on 03/24/2022 8:36:51 AM PDT by BigJimSportCamper
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To: blueplum

Great, now do that other neurotoxin - fluoride.


12 posted on 03/24/2022 8:38:46 AM PDT by BigJimSportCamper
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To: sipow

Like that kid that a “clock”.🙄


13 posted on 03/24/2022 10:38:09 AM PDT by BiteYourSelf ( Earth first we'll strip mine the other planets later.)
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To: blueplum
The team’s goal is to make and sell their filters for less than $1 each, which Bushway thinks they’re on their way to doing. Because the housings use biodegradable plastic, the cost could trend a little higher, but the material would help reduce the overall environmental impact of the filter.

That filter idea is a wonderful innovation. But these idealists are about to get a hard lesson in market capitalism.

Overhead, fellas and gals: overhead.

14 posted on 03/24/2022 1:51:31 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (If science can’t be questioned, it’s not science anymore, it’s propaganda. --Aaron Rodgers)
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