Acid Rain Lab Report

The pH scale is 1 to 14, 7 being the best quality. To the right is a pH scale. 7 is what the water should be. 7 is also what we had for the creek average. We had a higher number of rocks neutralizing acid (limestone is the stone found mostly in the creek) than the ones that don’t. this means that the acid rain we get is mostly neutralized by limestone in the stream. We get acid rain from Philadelphia. This is because of the massive steel companies. All of the toxic smoke comes over and comes down in the conodoguinet as acid rain. So the creek is non-acidic and non-alkaline.

At the first station I was at, we were looking for macroinvertebrates and crustaceans. When we found one of the insects we had to determine which group they belonged in. One way to determine if the water is polluted is to look at which group the critters are mostly from. My group and I tested this by taking turns going into the creek and finding a rock to bring out. When we brought the rock out of the water and back to our group we had to make sure to turn the rock over because the critters normally live on the bottoms of the rocks and most likely would fall off if you didn’t turn it over. After we all took turns a couple of times

Through our research we aimed to determine if there were any differences in water quality of both the north and south forks of Strawberry Creek. As time progresses and the environment changes it is important to keep track of how certain species are being impacted by these features, and how they cope with change. We hypothesized that due to the lack of pollution, the south fork will promote a greater diversity of macroinvertebrates. This was due to the fact that there was less runoff and trash that could be introduced to the water in the south fork, than there was in the north fork. We gathered data by analyzing the different organisms living in both forks. We collected a total of fifty vials composed of five organisms from each fork, and inspected them under microscopic view. After gathering data and identifying the different kinds of organisms living in the different forks we assessed whether the organisms from the samples could live in high or low resolution water. We also took a t-test to assess the probability of these differences being due to relevant factors or by chance. Our major findings suggest that organisms in the south fork showed a higher demand to living in cleaner water indicating that our hypothesis was correct.

There were 3 different groups of the critters. If they were in the 1st group the water wasnt polluted, if they were in the second group the water was somewhat polluted, and if they were in the 3rd group, the water would be polluted. We found more critters living in group 1. In the graph it shows that we found 88% of the critters in group 1 are living in the water. The critters we found in group 1 were the gilled snails, water pennies, and the mayflies. It also shows that in group 2, only about 2% of the critters living in the water. The insect we found in group 2 was the crayfish. Than, in group 3, it shows that 10.7% of critters are living in the water. The critters found in group 3 were the dragonflies, worms, and the pouched

Each person got to test either the phosphates, nitrates, dissolved oxygen, or the ph in the creek. Phosphates and nitrates are nutrients found in water due to fertilizers, decaying plants and bacteria. Dissolved oxygen is the amount of gaseous oxygen dissolved in the water. As we recorded our results, we discovered that the dissolved oxygen levels were very high, which is good because the higher amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, the healthier the creek is. The phosphates levels in the creek were all perfect zeros, which is great because having nutrients in the creek is not healthy. The nitrate levels were slightly higher, at 0.9. That is not bad at all, but it isn’t perfect, showing signs of pollution. The ph levels in the rocks were neutral, right at seven. If they were lower than 7, that would mean they have acids in them, and if they were higher than 7, they would have alkaline in them. Alkaline, or bases, neutralizes acids. The number of rocks that we found that neutralized acid was 65, and the number of rocks that did not neutralize acids were 29. This shows that about one-third of the rocks in the creek do not neutralize acids.

Did you ever wonder how things you do everyday effect the Chesapeake Bay watershed and Its tributaries? Well, It turns out to be not so good. One of the main causes for the Bay’s bad health are nutrients which are caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the air and water. Plants and animals need nutrients to survive but when too many nutrients are in the water they fuel the growth of algae blooms and create conditions that are harmful for aquatic creatures.

Either or both of those two things could have runoff from the land and drained into the creek. They are negative to the creek. Our results showed that the creek was containing little to no phosphate. The average number after 15 tests was just 0.3- zero being the best. Similarly, nitrate is a salt or ester, but it is made of nitric acid, containing the anion NO3. It is found in runoff from fertilized farms and treatment plants. The same process was used for testing nitrate levels. The average level out of eight tests was 0.8, which is a higher than phosphate but still relatively low. Both of those test results were very positive. It showed that the creek was low in eutrophication. Another chemical test is testing for dissolved oxygen. Dissolved oxygen is microscopic bubbles of oxygen (O2) that are in the water and there for aquatic organisms to breathe in, which is necessary for almost all organisms. The testing process was similar to that of nitrate and phosphate tests. After testing the water, we got an average level of 11.4. More dissolved oxygen allows for more gaseous bubbles for organisms to breathe in. Therefore, a higher number is better. Twelve is the highest level of dissolved oxygen possible. Thus, since 11.4 is very close to 12, the dissolved oxygen level was very good. Dissolved oxygen can be changed in a number of ways. First, stagnant, or not moving, water has a much lower level of dissolved oxygen. Also, hotter water has less dissolved water. Lastly, chemicals like phosphate and nitrate can cause the growth of algae (which will be discussed in more detail in paragraph three), taking away oxygen. Additionally, the students tested for acid rain pollution. The tests falling under the acid rain category would test for acidity or alkalinity in water. We took a pH test, which is a level expressing the

Is the Conodoguinet creek polluted? I thought it was, but multiple tests from my peers and I proved my hypothesis wrong. To prove our hypotheses, my peers and I did multiple tests of the organisms living in the creek. We also tested the water quality. You may be wondering, “ How does this apply to me?” “ Why should I care?”, the fact is that the Conodoguinet runs through 100 miles of Pennsylvania. It runs through farms, towns, communities, and maybe even your backyard. So, making sure we protect it should concern all of us.

Although the amount of pollutants from a single town or construction site may seem insignificant, the combined concentrations of contaminants threaten our lakes, streams and wetlands. When things such as: human and animal waste, decaying plants and animals, discarded litter, or food waste enter surface waters, either dissolved or suspended in stormwater runoff, they can deplete the supply of dissolved oxygen in the water. When dissolved oxygen is reduced below a certain critical level, it can impair or kill aquatic plants and animals (CNYRPDB, 2011).

Eutrophication is when there is too much nutrients in the water, as stated above. Eutrophication can come from farmers fertilizing their fields and some detergents. We tested for phosphates, salts or ester of phosphatidic acid. We also tested for nitrates, salts or ester of nitric acid. The more the phosphates and nitrates, the more eutrophication is present in the stream. We tested for dissolved oxygen, the amount of oxygen in the water, as well. We found found a very low level of phosphates with an average of 0.1 parts per million (ppm). We also found a very low level of nitrates with an average of 0.9 ppm. The dissolved oxygen level was 9.8 ppm. The higher the velocity of the water, the more dissolved oxygen it will contain. All of these measurements are very good and show that there is little or no eutrophication in the

Background (1 ¶): What is the Duck Creek Watershed? What problems is it facing? What is being done so far to remedy these problems? Who is working on this problem?

Our data clearly shows that the water quality is pretty good, and the ecosystem is fairly descent. The MSHA gave Sawmill Creek a 73.5 out of 100 for the habitat once we added up all the numbers from the questions we answered, giving us the conclusion that the ecosystem was fairly descent. The LabQuest gave us a pH of 6.88 and a DO of 10.85 ppm, and the chemical test kit gave us results of 7.5 for the pH, and 5 ppm for DO. Both of the pH tests gave us results around 7, which is the neutral, and is what you want. The DO is where we got 10.85 ppm for one, and 5 ppm for the other. A good result is 10 ppm, so with these results, we can conclude the that DO is somewhat decent, with both the results put together. The average velocity of our ten meter area of the creek was .29 m/s. A velocity of .29 m/s is a medium speed, making the water not to fast so creatures can not survive, but not so slow that the water just sits, creating bad filtration for the water. The turbidity of the water was also very good, with the seeing distance of over 100 centimeters using the turbidity tube. All of those tests put together make the water quality result very good. The air temperature was 24.7 degrees celsius, and the water temperature was 23.8 degrees celsius. This shows us that the stream was quite shallow, because of how close the air and water temperature was, but still enough of a difference so it was not to warm for aquatic life. With algae being the only aquatic plant we found, and finding sedges, alsike clover, milkweed, red osier dogwood, and speckled alder on the shore, we can say that these plants did not impact the water quality to an extent of affecting the water quality that much, or even at all. The macroinvertebrates in the water; crayfish, mayflies, leech’s, and 3 different egg species, did not seem to affect the water quality too much, if at

This segment of White Creek is located the farthest away from major urban development, and, thus, might be an overall healthier system as a result. There is an overall proliferation of many different of species (colonizers, stabilizers, and riparian woody) that occur and thrive in various spatial configurations (partially determined by proximity to stream, elevation, and characteristics of the underlying substrate). There appears to be a substantial (s worthy of note that a large, above-ground sewage line ran perpendicularly over the river towards a sewage treatment plant some distance away. There were no signs of leakage or other issues that might compromise or affect the surrounding hydrology of the site.

In sections 0-1050 ft Bank Erosion, Habitat Diversity, and Embeddedness are lower than preferred. Bank Erosion is at 2.3 out of 4, this proves that the sections’ banks are getting eroded with particles dissolving into the waters. Traver Creeks’ Habitat Diversity grade is 2.5/4, specifically this states that in some areas the vegetation is less diverse and cannot absorb harmful chemicals before they get to the creek. These chemicals could harm the organisms greatly in the Creek. Embeddedness which displaces many organisms by removing their natural habitat, is at 2.7/4. This is strips many organisms of their grounds and nests as is becomes more and more scarce. The flow rate is at 2.22 ft/s this is a safe speed for the Creek it’s not too fast that organisms get flushed downstream and it’s not too slow that the organisms will suffocate. Once again, but more importantly buffers need to be set in place to stop runoff from getting into the Creek to prevent high bank erosion and

The idea here is to find out if the ecosystem is contaminated to the point that it will risk populations from further expanding along the river.