Booth Id:
EAEV023
Category:
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Year:
2021
Finalist Names:
Eswaran, Tarini (School: Little Rock Central High School)
Abstract:
Many places lack clean water and the chemicals needed to treat water are not easily
accessible either. Moringa plants tend to grow near the equator where most countries lack water.
Moringa plants are known for its cleaning ability. The hypothesis of this project is if the moringa
seeds can provide the same amount of water purification as currently achieved by chemical
treatment, then it will provide an alternate, non-toxic solution. To test this, two experiments were
done, a bacteria test and a UV light test with four types of water. First, moringa solutions were
made by crushing seeds and mixing it with distilled water. Two solutions were made, a 2g and a
4g. For the bacteria test, bacteria were placed on agar plates and three variations were done. The
first plate had only bacteria, the second had bacteria with the 2g moringa solution, and a third
one with the 4g solution. The second experiment was done in a lab using a UV light. The types
of waters tested were creek, river, park, and dirty waters. Both moringa solutions were mixed
into the waters with alum powder also being tested. The variations being tested were distilled
water, the type of water, 2g moringa solution mixed in, 4g moringa solution, and alum. The
results were statistically significant, but the moringa solutions did not clean as effectively as the
alum powder. While not cleaning as effectively, this was a step in the right direction and further
testing can be done with moringa seeds.