Sediments are the main source of water pollution, contributing to turbidity issues as well as irregular or harmful nitrite/nitrate, phosphorus, and pH levels. This contributes to the death of marine organisms and can also change which organisms can survive in the body of water as its conditions change due to runoff. Anthropogenic runoff is also a contributor of adverse water effects, such as cultural eutrophication from fertilizer runoff, and also results in the death of aquatic animals and shifts in which organisms are more prominent in the ecosystem. This lab will address the effects soil will have on variables concerning water quality. There is also the option of including fish and/or aquatic plants in the water column, which are independent variables as well as the soil. The pH, ammonia levels, nitrite levels, temperature, D.O., and physical attributes are the dependent variables that will be measured during the lab. The qualitative physical tests (turbidity and odor) will portray the physical state and cleanliness of the water, as well as the level of runoff from the soil. PH affects the acidity, thus determining which organisms can survive. Similarly, ammonia levels can affect …show more content…
In addition, there will be little to no ammonia in water columns that do not contain fish as it comes from urine, nor will there be high D.O. levels in water columns that do not contain any plants, as they are the source of D.O.The hypothesis was proven correct as the ammonia levels remained at 0 ppm throughout the lab, the nitrite levels increased throughout the lab, and the D.O. levels remained below the optimal amount since it was consistently below 6 ppm. The runoff from the soil altered the initial state of the water by making it more basic than it originally was and changing the turbidity and amount of
Before the start of this experiment, the theoretical yield was calculated. Based off the data, it was found that the limiting reagent is 3-nitrobenzaldehyde. The theoretical yield is determined by relating the moles of the limiting reagent to the moles of the anticipated product by a ratio obtained from the overall equation. The theoretical yield was calculated to be 1.3 g. However, the actual yield obtained was greater than the theoretical yield; in other words, the actual mass of the product was higher than the theoretical mass. This led to an abnormally high yield of 320% and an impure product.
Government agencies carefully monitor water quality and its effect on wetlands (Reference: Environment Protection Agency Wetland Report EPA 832-R-93-005). Of particular concern is the concentration of nitrogen in water draining from fertilized lands. Too much nitrogen can kill fish and wildlife. Twenty-eight samples of water were taken at random from a lake. The nitrogen concentration (milligrams of nitrogen per liter of water) was determined for each sample. The variable in this information is nitrogen concentration (mg nitrogen/l water).
Abstract: During this lab, the pH of water in soil from a man made garden, a deciduous forest, and a river bank were tested after leaving it in containers for one, two, and three hours, coming out to a total of three trials with three different soils all together. After testing the pH of the water when being added to the soil for the desired amount of time and comparing it to the original water with no soil added, is then when each pH difference was observed and recorded in a a notebook, while pictures were taken of the experiment being conducted.
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
Overall, the more macroinvertebrates in the water, the healthier the stream. pH is a measure of how acidic or basic water is. It is measured on a scale from 0-14. 0 is the most acidic, 14 is the most basic, and 7 is neutral. It is the measure of the relative amount of free hydrogen and hydroxide ions in the water. Acidic water has more hydrogen ions, and basic water has more hydroxide ions. When water’s pH is around neutral (7), that is a suitable and healthy living environment for fish, and indicates a healthy stream. If the water is too acidic or too basic, it can be harmful to the aquatic life. Dissolved oxygen is a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water. As the amount of dissolved oxygen drops below normal levels in water bodies, the water quality is harmed and creatures begin to die off as a result of eutrophication. The higher the level of dissolved oxygen, the healthier the stream. When there is a lot of dissolved oxygen present it makes for a safe environment for fish to live and reproduce. Having all this healthy fish can provide us with food, so overall the more dissolved oxygen, the better. Nitrates are a compound found in fertilizers that is used to help plants grow. It is what is given off as a result of the use of nitrogen in water. The organisms in the soil eat the nitrates and it helps the metabolism and the health of organisms. Plants, such as Algae use nitrates as a source
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.
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).
Several species and organisms rely on water to survive. Some organisms use it as a source to drink and others uses water as their living environment. This experiment is to calculate many aspects of the water that surrounds Corpus Christi. Water is the key to life on Earth and thus why water is so important. According to the Lab Report water quality is the quality of water and if it is considered acceptable drinking water. Water quality consist of its chemical, physical and biological characteristics. These properties can be studied through pH testing, nitrogen testing, Phosphorous testing and many other useful ways. Water quality is important because it allows scientist to identify if the water is in a good condition to drink or sustain life overall and it dramatically effects how healthy it is. The objective of this lab was to experiment if the water quality around the Corpus Christi is a reliable source of water for organisms and to reach an understanding of the water quality of the water surrounding Corpus Christi.
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
For the Nitrogen Cycle Lab, I, along with four other classmates, designed and created a self-sustaining nitrogen cycle. One factor that helped us create a successful self-sustaining nitrogen cycle was we elevated each tank by placing foam blocks under them. This increased the speed of the water flow. Another good factor we included was we used tape to help loop the tubes to connect two tanks together. The tape also prevented any tubes from shooting water upwards and out of the tank.
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
From the fish tank water with high ammonia flows into the trickle filter. Since a water-trickles are down over the media, the large surface area and oxygen from the atmosphere allow nitrification bacteria to oxidize ammonia to nitrite and nitrate. Afterwards, the water exits the trickle filter with much reduced ammonia content (see Figure 11) [36].
Water pollution has become an issue of great concern in our society. Many of today’s water ecosystems and drinking water are being polluted and destroyed as we speak. There are many types of water ecosystems such as oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds witch provide homes to many different organisms. There are overwhelming factors that contribute to the problems of water pollution such as sewage, radioactive wastes, improper disposal of trash on land, and careless beachgoers. These are all significant problems that people do not realize until all of the damage is done. There are very few methods of controlling this pollution and more need to be developed in order to try and control these problems immediately.
In this lab, we explored the water quality and the effect it has based from different contaminates. Contaminates are unwanted chemicals in the environment or in living organisms, which may be harmful to plants, animals, or humans. Some contaminates that we as humans, may not think contaminate our water supply are oil from us washing our used cooking oil down the drain, vinegar which gives off a foul odor to our drinking water, and laundry detergent when we wash our laundry. The water is then sent down to where our ground water is without the knowledge of the contaminated water being filtered before turning into drinking water. Studies show that drinking water in many U.S. areas are polluted with nitrate. Nitrate is a form of nitrogen that, when not managed with care, can move downward through the soil and contaminate ground water supply, (Seft, D. 1995).
Szewzyk et al (2000) reported that the available fresh water for human utilization is hardly 0.3 to 0.5 % of the total water (2.4%) available on earth and thus it is important to use it wisely. The most important and potable source of water is river water. Rivers are important fresh water resources and most developmental activities are dependent upon them. The environment and economic stability, are highly impacted by quality of surface waters. According to Halder and Islam (2015), unfortunately the water quality of rivers all around the world is deteriorating due to increase in population, urbanization, Industrialization, evolving consumption patterns, global climate change and various other factors. The continued anthropogenic activities have stressed the ecological functioning of the rivers to an