Ia Water Quality

Our class has concluded that the conodoguinet creek is not polluted. If we test the Conodoguinet Creek for signs of pollution, then the creek will be polluted. That was my hypothesis for the creek, but it was wrong. There are many creatures that are pollution sensitive, which means they can’t survive in pollution. We found many of these creatures in the stream. Also, we have tested the creek for pollutants and other chemicals. Lastly, acid rain is a problem, so we tested the rocks for neutralizing acid. Here are some reasons why we think the creek is not polluted.

We did 3 different test to help conclude the water quality. The first testing/station i did was to see what kind of critters were living in the water. Then, my next group was to take a test to see if eutrophication was in the water. We also took

Being a student athlete at the nearby University, located in the heart of Bellingham, I myself use the lake once, if not twice a day for rowing practice. Considering my constant presence, I have become quite disappointed in the water quality of the lake as well as the debris which roams the murky waters.

On October 3, 2017 the 7th grade, team odyssey went on a trip to William Henry Harrison Park to observe the Portage River and the ecosystems around it. There the 7th grade team observed the the water quality of the Portage River. The 7th grade team used chemical, physical, and biological indicators to observe the quality of the Portage River.

The first station we had was counting crustaceans and macroinvertebrates in the water. We found 113 critters that belonged in group 1 which means it is quality water. There were 2 organisms in group 2 which was somewhat quality water. Also, 16 critters in group 3 which means the water is very polluted. Overall, based on the critter

Bioassays, Daphnia magna, were used to monitor water for the presence of toxic compounds in various water samples, including samples 1 mile upstream from the Fletcher’s Paint dump site and one mile downstream. A bioassay is a living organism that serves as a detector for toxins. It is hypothesized that if the Daphnia mortality rate when exposed to water samples from various locations is higher in greater solutions, then their deaths' indicate that the water contains toxic compounds due to the harmful toxins that originated from human pollution. This is the same hypothesis for the Fletcher’s Paint experiment.

The location of the water sampling was in three different areas known as the Ward Island, Oso Bride, and Packery Channel. For the Ward Island and the Packery Channel were both well cleaned and little to no trash in the property. As for the Oso bridge the location was surrounded with unwanted trash. Shown in figure 1 is a variety of trash that interrupts the growth of organisms in the location throughout Oso bridge. The Oso bridge had several small like rocks throughout the location, while the Ward Island consisted of sand, and the Packery Channel had a variation of mud and sand. The weather was fairly similar in all locations especially the Packery Channel and the Oso bridge because the experiments were conducted on the same day. The weather for all consisted with an average of 80 degrees. For all three experiments the wind was blowing somewhat fast at a speed of 15-17 miles per hour.

I infer that the water quality was affected more by other factors. The two sites with about the same amount of human activity were McKinney Falls State Park and Bulls Creek. On the other hand, Wild Basin swimming is not allowed. Our results showed that the order from greatest to least amount of nitrate and phosphorous concentration was Bulls Creek, McKinney Falls, and Wild Basin at the lowest. Hence, because Bulls Creek was had the high amounts of human activity and nitrate and phosphorous levels, this relates

Bioindicators of stream health include blackfly larvae, caddisflies, and algae. The presence of blackfly larvae indicates sewage pollution. Caddisflies indicate higher  O2 concentrations. The presences of algae can indicate different things. If algae is absent, there may not be enough nutrients to support its growth. Thick algae indicates eutrophication.  Previous studies by the Colorado Department of Health Water Quality Control Commission in 1981 show comparable amounts of dissolved  O2 as well as pH, nitrite, and nitrate levels in both Cherry and Bear creek. The  NH 3 levels were much higher in Cherry Creek at .10 mg/L compared to Bear creek where the  NH 3 levels were at .06 mg/L (Colorado 1981). In today’s society, it is important to find a balance between preserving the natural ecosystem and accommodating the wants, needs, and desires of the humans who affect it. (Meyer 1997). Pollution is inevitable but should be considered and kept as low as reasonably achievable.

Measuring the water quality is important because water quality is absolutely vital for the river to be a healthy environment for the organisms around it. Water quality, if good, will support native fish, various microorganisms, various species of plants, and bird populations. The quality of a river’s water is commonly decided by its physical, chemical, biological and aesthetic traits. A healthy environment is one in which the water quality supports a healthy ecosystem; many of our own personal uses depend on the quality of the water that will be used drinking, fishing, recreation, and many other important uses. [2]

My hypothesis was supported because there were some contaminants that were visible and there were some that were not visible. One of the contaminants that was visible with sample c was copper which was orange. Copper is an orange/red metal and it can be found in small amounts (less than 1 parts per million) in natural, ground, and surface water. However, elevated amounts may occur if corrosive water completely gets dissolved with copper water. This will only happen if corrosive water stays unmoving with copper water for six or more hours which will likely make the water more unsafe for drinking. It will be more unsafe for drinking because it can give a bitter taste and can cause discoloration in the water. Copper is also a contaminant that

After taking samples, and running tests on the water of the U-Creek, the conclusion was made that the water quality of the U-Creek is excellent. Water quality is not excellent in all cases, but keeping good water quality is very important for life of the organisms in the water. One way that humans could change the water quality, or pollute the water is through runoff. Rivers are a very convenient place for the companies or farms to get rid of waste. For example, farmers put pesticides and fertilizers on their crops to protect them from bugs, or to help them grow better. Fertilizers contain nitrates and phosphates, if large amounts of these two things end up in the water it will lead to an overgrowth of plant life, and algae growth. Over time as the algae starts to rapidly grow, the algae will start to use up all of the dissolved oxygen in the water. Dissolved oxygen is very important to organism life so if it is all gone then organisms will start to die. Another way that humans pollute water is through chemical water deposits. Chemical waste is discharged from industrial processes, that can end up in rivers or streams. An example of a

One particular bloom in the summer of 2014 was of poisonous algae which produced the toxin microcystin – consumption of which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and even liver failure – that had formed in an area of Lake Erie used for the city of Toledo’s drinking water (Wines, 2014). The city issued a notice to the approximate 500,000 citizens using that water informing them not to drink it, even after boiling. The ban took two days to lift, impacting the ability of those citizens to get fresh drinking water during that time.

In this experiment we used aquatic macroinvertebrates to test whether the water quality differs between the north and south forks of strawberry creek. We hypothesized that the south fork would have better water quality than the north fork because the north fork has more contact with pollutants created by humans while the south fork runs through a more isolated area. Using both the metric and statistical data collected we can reasonably conclude the water that runs in the south fork contains less pollutants than the north fork. The statistical data showed us that the t-value was significantly higher than the critical t-value, which allowed us to reject the null hypothesis that the water quality was the same between the two forks. Looking at the metric data we can see that in the south fork there is more taxa present, there is a higher percentage of EPT, a lower biotic index, a lower percentage of filterers, and a larger number of predators present.

Most of our water resources are gradually becoming polluted due to the addition of foreign materials from the surroundings. Rapid urbanization and industrialization has put a lot of pressure on the existing water bodies (Waziri et al., 2009; Sawant and Telave, 2009). Anthropogenic development and changes around lakes affects their ecosystems (Mouri, G et al 2011). Lakes have a complex and fragile ecosystem, as they do not have a self-cleaning ability and therefore readily accumulate pollutants (Abida et al 2008; J.C Akan et al 2012). Continuous water quality monitoring is essential for efficient management of lakes and for control of pollution. It is