Download The Water Quality of Fisher Creek

The Water Quality of Fisher
Creek
Bobby Suit
Brian Davis
• Location/Conditions of Water Source
• Possible Contaminants Tested For
– Microorganisms
• Coliform
• Turbidity
– Secondary Contaminants
• pH
• Total Solids
– Inorganic Chemicals
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorous
– Other Pollutants
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Temperature
• Results of Test
Location of Water Source
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Elevation: 650 ft.
Longitude: 82.4
Latitude: 34.3
Location: Fisher Creek, in my backyard off of Hook rd.
in the northern most corner of Abbeville county, ¾
mile from headwaters.
Time of Day: 5:30 pm
Date: March 14 and March 21, 2013
Weather: Beautiful, 67* (f), no clouds
Possible Pollution Sources: cows in a pasture
upstream
Coliform
•Coliforms are bacteria that are always
present in the digestive tracts of animals,
including humans, and are found in their
wastes. They are also found in plant and soil
material (total coliforms). Most do not cause
disease.
•Escherichia coli(E. coli) is the major species in
the fecal coliform group. Of the five general
groups of bacteria that comprise the total
coliforms, only E. coli is generally not found
growing and reproducing in the environment.
•Cases of E. coli 0157:H7 caused by
contaminated drinking water supplies are rare.
•Our results using an agar dish (1ml sample
water): 13 colonies in 48 hours, dish 80%
covered in one week, 1300 per 100 ml., Q
Value: 22, T Value:3.52
Fisher Creek Coliform
Turbidity
• Turbidity is a measure of the
cloudiness of water. It is used
to indicate water quality and
filtration effectiveness (e.g.,
whether disease-causing
organisms are present).
• Higher turbidity levels are often
associated with higher levels of
disease-causing
microorganisms such as
viruses, parasites and some
bacteria. These organisms can
cause symptoms such as
nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and
associated headaches.
• Our results using a Carolina
Turbidity Tube: 120, Q Value:
100, T Value: 8
Clean Water
Not So Clean Water
pH
• When water has a low pH level it is called "soft water." it
can be harmful to metals and cause stain in clothes.
• When water has high pH level, it is "hard water." Hard
water isn't harmful but has a bad taste and it causes build
up on plumbing. Hard water can also create a strange
appearance to your clothing and dishware and even make
your hair look dull.
• PH levels of water cannot affect your health.
• Our results: Two tests: litmus paper and LaMotte pH test kit
(5ml of test water, 10 drops indicator solution, Octet
Comparator) were 6.5 consistent, Q Value: 70, T Value: 7.7
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Total Solids
Total solids are dissolved solids plus
suspended and settleable solids in water.
The concentration of total dissolved solids
affects the water balance in the cells of
aquatic organisms. An organism placed in
water with a high concentration of solids will
shrink somewhat because the water in its
cells will tend to move out. This will in turn
affect the organism’s ability to maintain the
proper cell density, making it difficult to keep
its position in the water column.
Higher concentrations of suspended solids
can serve as carriers of toxics, which readily
cling to suspended particles.
A high concentration of total solids will make
drinking water unpalatable and might have
an adverse effect on people who are not
used to drinking such water.
Total solids also affect water clarity. Higher
solids decrease the passage of light through
water, thereby slowing photosynthesis by
aquatic plants.
Our results obtained by boiling site water in a
beaker and then reweighing: Initial Weight:
110.2 g, Resulting 110.2 g, Difference: 0, Q
Value: 100, T Value: 7
Algae Bloom in Lake Erie
Nitrogen
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Infants below the age of six months who drink water
containing nitrate in excess of the MCL could become
seriously ill and, if untreated, may die. Symptoms include
shortness of breath and blue-baby syndrome (pale blue
skin, lethargic eyes).
Eutrophication – These typically promote excessive
growth of algae. As the algae die and decompose, high
levels of organic matter and the decomposing organisms
deplete the water of available oxygen, causing the death
of other organisms, such as fish.
Anoxia – Anoxic Event: Anoxia is a lack of oxygen caused
by excessive nutrients in waterways which triggers algae
growth. When the plants die and decay, oxygen is
stripped from the water, which then turns green or milky
white and gives off a strong rotten egg odour.
An excess in the growth of plants and algae create an
unstable amount of dissolved oxygen.
Our results using the LaMotte Nitrate/Phosphate test kit
(2.5 ml sample water, 2.5 ml Mixed Acid Reagent, .1 g
Nitrate-Reducing Reagent): 0 (average), Q Value: 100, T
Value: 10
Phosphorous
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It can speed up eutrophication (a
reduction in dissolved oxygen in
water bodies caused by an
increase of mineral and organic
nutrients) of rivers and lakes.
It does not take very much
orthophosphate to stimulate
algae growth
The decomposition of suspended
algae consumes oxygen dissolved
in the water. If there are large
amounts of respiring or
decomposing algae, their oxygen
requirements compete with the
oxygen needs of fish, and can lead
to fish kills.
•Our Results using the LaMotte Nitrate/Phosphate
test kit (10 ml sample water, I ml Phosphate Acid
Reagent, .1 g Phosphate-Reducing Reagent): .675
(average), Q Value: 22, T Value: 2.2
Biochemical Oxygen Demand
• Biochemical oxygen demand is a measure of the quantity of oxygen
used by microorganisms (e.g., aerobic bacteria) in the oxidation of
organic matter.
• Natural sources of organic matter include plant decay and leaf fall.
• Urban runoff carries pet wastes from streets and sidewalks;
nutrients from lawn fertilizers; leaves, grass clippings, and paper
from residential areas, which increase oxygen demand.
• Oxygen consumed in the decomposition process robs other aquatic
organisms of the oxygen they need to live. Organisms that are more
tolerant of lower dissolved oxygen levels may replace a diversity of
more sensitive organisms
• Our results using the LaMotte Dissolved Oxygen test kit kit (8 drops
manganous sulfate,8 drops sulfuric acid, 20ml water, titrator in
sodium thiosulfate, 8 drops starch indicator solution): Initial: 7.45,
One week later: 7.2, Difference: .25, Q Value: 100, T Value: 11
Dissolved Oxygen
•Rapidly moving water, such as in a mountain
stream or large river, tends to contain a lot of
dissolved oxygen
• Stagnant water contains less.
•Bacteria in water can consume oxygen as
organic matter decays. Thus, excess organic
material in lakes and rivers can cause eutrophic
conditions.
•Aquatic life can have a hard time in stagnant
water that has a lot of rotting, organic material
in it.
•Our results using the LaMotte Dissolved
Oxygen test kit (8 drops manganous sulfate,8
drops sulfuric acid, 20ml water, titrator in
sodium thiosulfate, 8 drops starch indicator
solution): 7.45 (average), Q Value: 70, % of DO
Saturation: 67% T Value: 11.9
Temperature
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Temperature affects the dissolved oxygen level in the water, photosynthesis of
aquatic plants, metabolic rates of aquatic organisms, and the sensitivity of these
organisms to pollution, parasites and disease.
Thermal pollution is the introduction of water that is warmer than the body of
water into which it flows. It generally occurs near power plants.
Urban runoff is water that has been heated as it flowed over parking lots, streets
and sidewalks.
Plowing near streams or the removal of the forest canopy during construction also
contributes to thermal pollution by decreasing shade.
The sediments absorb heat from sunlight rather than reflect it. This heats the
water further.
Warm water is less capable of holding dissolved oxygen.
Metabolic rates of aquatic plants increase as water temperature rises, thus
increasing their biochemical oxygen demand.
Our Results: 13.5 Celsius @ site, 14 Celsius upstream, -.5 difference, Q Value 75, T
Value 5.25
Results
Contaminants
T. Value
pH
7.7
Turbidity
8
Temperature
5.25
Dissolved Oxygen
11.9
Nitrate
10
Phosphate
2.2
Total Solids
7
Coliform
3.52
B.O.D.
11
Total
66.57