Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Biochar As A Means Of Water Purification In Haiti, Caolan Keenan

Honors Projects

Our research set out to determine if biochar, a compound made by burning organic plant matter in a low oxygen environment, would be a suitable means of removing E. coli populations from contaminated water collected from the Grand River in Allendale, MI using simple materials to construct a filter that could be constructed and used in Haiti. Previous research has shown biochar to be effective at trapping bacteria and other contaminants in the porous surface and by binding other non organic contaminants. We constructed multiple iterations of these filters using gravel, sand, and biochar and ran three live tests with …