Carolina Investigations For Ap Environmental Science: Wastewater Treatment Kit

This kit is a great demo of the wastewater treatment process. It could replace a field trip, but I used it after a trip to reinforce the processes. A couple of changes I made to the set up are: 1) I increased the amount of glucose, since the test paper has high readings on it, so I started with about 3000 mg/dL for my glucose concentration. 2) I do not use oil for the wastewater, as that is very hard to clean up afterwards. The kit could be improved with test papers that give more accurate readings in the 100-500 mg/dL range. You could most likely set up this kit as a series of beakers and decant material from one beaker to the next.

The wastewater treatment kit is extremely fun and really drives home the point. The first time I used it, I was surprised to see how interested students were in how their water was treated. The kit serves as a great introduction to the chapter on water treatment. It is appropriate for all levels of environmental science.