Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination
Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.)
Beaker Observations
1 Water is perfectly clear/No odor
2 Cloudy/oil sits top of water/no odor
3
Slight odor/almost unidentifiable other then
smell/good clarity
4
Slightly cloudy/bubbles form on surface/no
odor
5 Water is brown in color/some sediment/no odor
6
Water is brown in color/some sediment/no
odor/still a presence of oil/very cloudy/oil
collected in soil
7
Water is brown in color/cloudy/some
sediment/strong odor
8
Water is dark brown/soap bubbles in soil/light
brown film on top of water
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop hypotheses on the ability of oil, vinegar, and laundry detergent to contaminate
groundwater.
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[no notes on this page]a. Oil hypothesis = Oil will not contaminate or change the amount of water filter.
b. Vinegar hypothesis = Vinegar will contaminate through the soil allowing the water to
filer through.
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis = Laundry detergent will contaminate the soil by
allowing the water to pass through.
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or accept each hypothesis
that you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
a. Oil hypothesis accept/reject = Accept// Oil is trapped in the soil.
b. Vinegar hypothesis accept/reject = Accept// Vinegar passed through the soil, because
it changed the velocity of the water.
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis accept/reject = Reject// Laundry detergent also changed
the viscosity of the water.
3. What affects did each of the contaminants have on the water in the experiment? Which
contaminant seemed to have the most potent effect on the water?
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[no notes on this page]Answer = from what I observed, oil is saturated into the soil leaving little to none of the
water to pass through. While the vinegar passed through the soil leaving more dirty water.
Based on what I think, vinegar is saturated and a natural substance while oil is a manmade
product and a much thicker substance. Oil absorbed the soil leaving the water less
contaminated. My conclusion, vinegar was the more potent liquid.
Using at least 1 scholarly source, discuss what type of affects these contaminants (oil,
vinegar, detergent) might have on a town’s water source and the people who drank the
water?
Answer = According to Wisconsin Natural Resource, “Everyday activities can affect
groundwater quality. Think about the ways you use water at home. If you've always
considered pure, clean water to be a cheap, unlimited resource, chances are you're
accustomed to wasting water and haven't been concerned about what you pour down the
drain (DNR.WI.GOV, 1999).” We don’t realize how much toxins is released into the water
if we’re not careful on the proper disposal of oil, laundry detergent. One way to destroy our
water supply is adding unnecessary chemicals into our water supply and by doing this; we
have added an unbalance into our water supply causing us to suffer and not to mention other
animals that rely on the fresh water. I can only say that I do enjoy drinking fresh bottle
water. Drinking unclean clean water is hazardous to our health. Water can carry an
abundance of unknown bacteria that the eye can’t detect. Of course, drinking polluted water
can make the whole town sick and may cause severe unknown sickness that the human body
cannot fight.
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[no notes on this page]Describe what type of human activity would cause contaminants like oil, acid and
detergents to flow into the water supply? Additionally, what other items within your
house do you believe could contaminate the water supply if you were to dump them
onto the ground?
Answer = Oils can be spilt pretty easily when doing any type of work to motorized vehicles, I think acid
would come from pollution and distributed into the ground during a rainfall, and detergents could possibly get
to the water source by sewage from people as well as runoff from farmers fields.
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[no notes on this page]Experiment 2: Water Treatment
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis on the ability of your filtration technique to remove contaminants.
Hypothesis = Using different coagulants coupled with materials with different alkalinity can
remove most groundwater contaminants.
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or accept the hypothesis that
you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
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[no notes on this page]Accept/Reject = Accept// the coagulants bonded to the larger particles and separated the water
from the contaminants. The bleach further decontaminant the water by changing the alkalinity of
the water.
3. What are the differences in color, smell, visibility, etc. between the “contaminated”
water and the “treated” water?
Answer = the treated water is mostly clearly, without no odor from the contaminants.
4. From the introduction to this lab, you know that there are typically five steps involved
in the water treatment process. Identify the processes (e.g., coagulation) that were used
in this lab and describe how they were performed.
Answer =
Step1: Cause the soil to separate from the water
Step2: Use the time to allow contents to separate
Step3: Use the rocks to separate large particles from the water
Step4: Use charcoal / sand to filter smaller particles from the water
Step5: Use the caustic chemicals to decontaminate the water
Experiment 3: Drinking Water Quality
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[no notes on this page]Table 2: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
0
Dasani® Bottled Water
0
Fiji® Bottled Water
0
Table 3: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample Test Results
Tap Water 500
Dasani® Bottled Water 0
Fiji® Bottled Water 0
Table 4: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample pH Total Alkalinity Total Chlorine Total Hardness
Tap Water 6 120 1.0 0
Dasani® Bottled Water 2 0 1.0 0
Fiji® Bottled Water 8 0 4.0 50
Table 5: Phosphate Test Results
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1
1. Need to attach units to all
your values. [Alisha
Etheredge]Water Sample Test Results
Tap Water
50
Dasani® Bottled Water
10
Fiji® Bottled Water
100
Table 6: Iron Test Results
Water Sample Test Results
Tap Water 0.15
Dasani® Bottled Water 0
Fiji® Bottled Water 0
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis on which water source you believe will contain the most and least
contaminants.
Hypothesis = the tap water will contain the most contaminants because it is traveling through
pipers in unknown condition, whereas, the bottle water is in a sterile, controlled
environment. The Dasani water is treated whereas Fiji comes from natural springs.
Therefore, Dasani will have the least contaminants.
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[no notes on this page]2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or accept the hypothesis that
you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
Accept/reject = I would neither accept or a reject. My result was not conclusive based on the
tap water and Fiji. Both of the water had a higher contaminants but not a clear, which is
higher in contaminants. Apparently, the Dasani was the purest.
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what major differences, if any, do you notice
between the Dasani, Fiji, and tap water?
Answer = Overall, Dasani is the closest to pure water. None that I can see physically, that I
would not notice but by the taste of the water is my only experience. I was taken back. I
thought the more natural the water the better the tasted would be.
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[no notes on this page]4. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Why or
why not?
Answer = Yes, I believe bottled water is worth 100% of my money, just because of the simple
fact that is processed on a controlled environment and I would not have to tack a chance in
worrying about peoples carless acts of contaminating our water sours.
*NOTE – Do not forget to go to Lab 3: Biodiversity, and complete “Experiment 1:
Diversity of Plants” steps 1 through 6. Steps 1 through 6 need to be completed in order to
be prepared for Week Three, however, results for this experiment will not be calculated
until next week. Thus, while nothing is to be handed in for this experiment until the end of
Week Three you must plant the seeds this week to ensure that you can complete week 3 on
time.
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[no notes on this page]References
Bensel, J. T. (2011). Contemporary Environmental Issues, San Diego: Bridgepoint Education
Inc.
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