Fit to Drink

From The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), these activities look at the question of drinking water quality.

The activities examine the issues involved and looks in detail at ways of removing nitrates from drinking water supplies. Both water treatment and agricultural solutions are considered. The unit is suitable for use with students who have prior knowledge of the water cycle and of simple water treatment by filtration and chlorination.

In the activities, students:
* Complete a homework exercise to examine how nitrates get into drinking water supplies
* Observe a simple water treatment process in operation and then analyse both raw water and treated water for the presence of nitrate and chloride ions
* Use their results to suggest how the treatment process (ion exchange) works
* Work in groups to evaluate different options to solve the problem of nitrates in drinking water supplies

The materials contain full teacher guidance, student notes and activity sheets.