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Water Filter Reading Answers, IELTS Reading Passage

Water Filter Reading Answers: Discover a variety of IELTS example questions and answers on Water Filter to increase your IELTS band score.
authorImagePorishmita Paul3 Jan, 2025
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Water Filter Reading Answers, IELTS Reading Passage

Water Filter Reading Answers: The IELTS Reading module includes three reading passages. Here, we have included sample practice questions on “Water Filter Reading Answers”. These sample questions can help students to practice for the original IELTS test . The passage also contains standard sample answers for all questions with definite explanations. The sample has a total of 13 questions. The Water Filter Reading Answers question types include Flowchart Completion, True/False/Not Given, and Multiple Choice questions. Test-takers can practice these sample questions to improve their IELTS Reading band score .

Free IELTS Reading Practice Tests, Cambridge Sample Test PDF

Water Filter Reading Answers Passage

Water Filter Reading Passage

Paragraph A

An ingenious invention is set to bring clean water to the third world, and while the science may be cutting edge, the materials are extremely down to earth. A handful of clay yesterday’s coffee grounds and some cow manure are the ingredients that could bring clean, safe drinking water to much of the third world.

Paragraph B

The simple new technology, developed by ANU materials scientist Mr. Tony Flynn, allows water filters to be made from commonly available materials and fired on the ground using cow manure as the source of heat without the need for a kiln. The filters have been tested and shown to remove common pathogens (disease-producing organisms), including E-coli. Unlike other water filtering devices, the filters are simple and inexpensive to make. “They are very simple to explain and demonstrate and can be made by anyone, anywhere,” says Mr. Flynn. “They don’t require any Western technology. All you need is terracotta clay, a compliant cow and a match.”

Paragraph C

The production of the filters is extremely simple. Take a handful of dry, crushed clay, mix it with a handful of organic material, such as used tea leaves, coffee grounds or rice hulls, add enough water to make a stiff biscuit-like mixture and form a cylindrical pot that has one end closed, then dry it in the sun. According to Mr. Flynn, the coffee grounds used have given the best results to date. Next, surround the pots with straw; put them in a mound of cow manure, light the straw and then top up the burning manure as required. In less than 60 minutes, the filters are finished. The walls of the finished pot should be about as thick as an adult’s index. The properties of cow manure are vital as the fuel can reach a temperature of 700 degrees in half an hour and will be up to 950 degrees after another 20 to 30 minutes. The manure makes a good fuel because it is very high in organic material that burns readily and quickly; the manure has to be dry and is best used exactly as found in the field; there is no need to break it up or process it any further.

Paragraph D

“A potter’s din is an expensive item and could take up to four or five hours to get up to 800 degrees. It needs expensive or scarce fuel, such as gas or wood, to heat it and experience to run it. With no technology, no insulation and nothing other than a pile of cow manure and a match, none of these restrictions apply,” Mr. Flynn says.

Paragraph E

It is also helpful that, like terracotta clay and organic material, cow dung is freely available across the developing world. “A cow is a natural fuel factory. My understanding is that cow dung as a fuel would be pretty much the same wherever you would find it.” Just as using manure as a fuel for domestic uses is not a new idea, the porosity of clay is something that potters have known about for years and something that, as a former ceramics lecturer in the ANU School of Art, Mr. Flynn is well aware of. The difference is that rather than viewing the porous nature of the material as a problem — after all, not many people want a pot that won’t hold water — his filters capitalise on this property.

Paragraph F

Other commercial ceramic filters do exist, but even if available, with prices starting at US$5 each, they are often outside the budgets of most people in the developing world. The filtration process is simple but effective. The basic principle is that there are passages through the filter that are wide enough for water droplets to pass through but too narrow for pathogens. Tests with the deadly E-coli bacterium have seen the filters remove 96.4 to 99.8 percent of the pathogen — well within safe levels. Using only one filter, it takes two hours to filter a litre of water. The use of organic material, which burns away after firing, helps produce the structure in which pathogens will become trapped. It overcomes the potential problems of finer clays that may not let water through and also means that cracks are soon halted. And like clay and cow dung, it is universally available.

Paragraph G

The invention was born out of a World Vision project involving the Manatuto community in East Timor. The charity wanted to help set up a small industry manufacturing water filters, but initial research found the local clay to be too fine — a problem solved by the addition of organic material. While the AF problems of producing a working ceramic filter in East Timor were overcome, the solution was kiln-based and particular to that community’s materials and couldn’t be applied elsewhere. Manure firing, with no requirement for a kiln, has made this zero technology approach available anywhere it is needed. With all the components being widely available, Mr. Flynn says there is no reason the technology couldn’t be applied throughout the developing world, and with no plans to patent his idea, there will be no legal obstacles to it being adopted in any community that needs it. “Everyone has a right to clean water; these filters have the potential to enable anyone in the world to drink water safely,” says Mr. Flynn
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Water Filter Reading Answers Sample Questions

Water Filter Reading Answers: Flowchart Completion (Questions 1-6) Complete the flowchart using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage. Making Water Filters
1. Collect (1) ________ and mix with organic material like tea leaves. 2. Add (2) ________ to form a stiff mixture. 3. Shape into a (3) ________ with one end closed. 4. Dry the filter in the (4) ________. 5. Surround the filters with (5) ________ before placing in manure. 6. Burn the manure for about (6) ________ to complete the filter.
Water Filter Reading Answers: True/False/Not Given (Questions 7-10) Do the following statements agree with the passage?
7. Cow manure burns at higher temperatures than gas. 8. The use of cow dung for fuel is a new concept in developing countries. 9. The filters remove more than 99% of pathogens from water. 10. Mr. Flynn plans to sell the water filter design to large companies.
Water Filter Reading Answers: Multiple Choice (Questions 11-13) Choose the correct letter: A, B, C, or D.
11. What material helps make the filter effective? A. Rice B. Coffee grounds C. Sugar D. Sand 12. What was the initial problem with making filters in East Timor? A. Lack of materials B. Fine clay C. Expensive kilns D. Lack of organic fuel 13. Why is manure firing suitable for filter production? A. It burns at a low temperature. B. It prevents cracks from forming. C. It provides heat without the need for a kiln. D. It produces larger filters.
IELTS Exam Important Links
IELTS Reading Band Score IELTS Listening Band Score
IELTS Speaking Band Score IELTS Writing Band Score

Water Filter Reading Answers with Explanations

1. Collect (1) dry, crushed clay and mix with organic material like tea leaves. Reference (Paragraph C): “Take a handful of dry, crushed clay, mix it with a handful of organic material...” 2 . Add (2) water to form a stiff mixture. Reference (Paragraph C): “...add enough water to make a stiff biscuit-like mixture...” 3. Shape into a (3) cylindrical pot with one end closed. Reference (Paragraph C): “...form a cylindrical pot that has one end closed...” 4. Dry the filter in the (4) sun. Reference (Paragraph C): “...then dry it in the sun.” 5. Surround the filters with (5) straw before placing in manure. Reference (Paragraph C): “Next, surround the pots with straw; put them in a mound of cow manure...” 6. Burn the manure for about (6) 60 minutes to complete the filter. Reference (Paragraph C): “In less than 60 minutes, the filters are finished.” 7. Cow manure burns at higher temperatures than gas. FALSE Reference (Paragraph D): “A potter’s kiln... needs expensive or scarce fuel, such as gas or wood, to heat it...” Gas is described as expensive but not outperformed by manure. 8. The use of cow dung for fuel is a new concept in developing countries. FALSE Reference (Paragraph E): “Just as using manure as a fuel for domestic uses is not a new idea...” 9. The filters remove more than 99% of pathogens from water. FALSE Reference (Paragraph F): “Tests with the deadly E-coli bacterium have seen the filters remove 96.4 to 99.8 percent...” The removal rate is below 100% but within safe levels. 10. Mr. Flynn plans to sell the water filter design to large companies. FALSE Reference (Paragraph G): “With no plans to patent his idea, there will be no legal obstacles to it being adopted...” 11. What material helps make the filter effective? B. Coffee grounds Reference (Paragraph C): “According to Mr. Flynn, the coffee grounds used have given the best results to date.” 12. What was the initial problem with making filters in East Timor? B. Fine clay Reference (Paragraph G): “The charity wanted to help set up a small industry... but initial research found the local clay to be too fine...”

13. Why is manure firing suitable for filter production?

C. It provides heat without the need for a kiln. Reference (Paragraph D): “With no technology, no insulation and nothing other than a pile of cow manure and a match, none of these restrictions apply.” Also Read:

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Water Filter Reading Answers FAQs

Q. What materials are needed to make the water filter?

Ans. Dry clay, organic material (like coffee grounds), water, straw, and cow manure.

Q. How long does it take to fire the filter?

Ans. The firing process takes less than 60 minutes.

Q. What pathogens can the filter remove?

Ans. It can remove 96.4 to 99.8% of pathogens, including E-coli.

Q. Why is cow manure used for firing the filters?

Ans. Cow manure burns at high temperatures, reaching up to 950 degrees, making it a readily available and effective fuel source.
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