Ordinary clay
Making a clay pot
Sun drying (not firing)
Putting pot into water to prove a point
Ordinary, unfired clay dissolves in water and thus cannot be used for cement
Any structure made from ordinary unfired clay gets destroyed when wet
Iron bacteria in creek (not clay)
Slime mold (not iron bacteria but interesting)
Collecting iron bacteria
Pouring water off the top
Putting the bacteria into a large porous pot
Bailing water off the top as the bacteria settles to the bottom
Repeating the process
Scooping out the thick iron bacteria sludge into other pots (note darker color change due to anoxic conditions)
Decanting water off the top as the bacteria settle further
Putting into one pot
Pouring into a trough to dry further
Putting onto roof tiles to dry (note rust colored surface due to oxidizing conditions)
The bacteria has dried enough to shape and mold
Forming the material into pots (as with the first experiment with ordinary clay)
Sun drying pots as in the first experiment
Sun dried pots
Soaking pot in water
24 hours later and the pot is still intact
Repeating the experiment with the other pots
Remember that these pots were not fired . The reason they stay intact is due to the cementitious properties of iron bacteria.
Iron bacteria cement