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Nitrites Lab

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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

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