Water quality and contamination lab report

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Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination

Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination

Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.)

Beaker

Observations

1

The water clear with no odor

2

The oil floated to top cloudy no odor

3

The water smelled like vinegar/ little cloudy

4

Soap bubbles formed and remained at the top, no odor

5

The water is brownish with a light dirty smell

6

The water was brownish with some soil at the bottom with a little oil

7

The water was a little brown vinegar smell with a little particles at the bottom

8

The water was brownish with more particles than #5,6, and 7 no smell and cloudy

POST LAB QUESTIONS

1. Develop hypotheses on the ability of oil, vinegar, and laundry detergent to contaminate groundwater.

a. Oil hypothesis = Oil will not contaminate but possibly the amount of water filtered may change

b. Vinegar hypothesis = Vinegar will contaminate and would allow the soil to filter

c. Laundry detergent hypothesis = The water would pass through but will be contaminated with soap bubbles.

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 = Oil would be trapped in the soil / Accept

b. Vinegar hypothesis accept/reject = Vinegar would pass through the soil / Accept

c. Laundry detergent hypothesis accept/reject = Laundry detergent would contaminate the water / Reject

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?

Answer = It seem all contaminants had effects on the water with vinegar seeming to have the most potent effect and you could identify it by the smell and the detergent had not odor and a little cloudy. The oil seems as though it will leave the water with less contamination.

4. 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 = Contaminants could cause potential health problems such as hepatitis, cholera and affect infants with the blue baby syndrome.

http://www.epa.gov/region1

5. 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 = Contaminates like motor oil, gas from human activity and household contaminates would be from cooking oil, house hold cleaning products, battery acid, jewelry cleaner and paint.

Experiment 2: Water Treatment

POST LAB QUESTIONS

1. Develop a hypothesis on the ability of your filtration technique to remove contaminants.

Hypothesis = Coagulants and alkalinity will remove most of groundwater contaminants. For example the funnel filled with the activated charcoal, sand and gravel seemed to produce clean water.

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 = Accept / The coagulants bonding together with small to large particles separated contaminants from the water.

3. What are the differences in color, smell, visibility, etc. between the “contaminated” water and the “treated” water?

Answer = The treated water was clearer with 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 = Soil was separated from the water

Allow contents time to separate

Rocks would separate large particles from water

Sand and charcoal would separate smaller particles from the water

Use chemicals to decontaminate the water

Experiment 3: Drinking Water Quality

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

5

120

0.2

50

Dasani® Bottled Water

3

40

0

0

Fiji® Bottled Water

6

180

0

0

Table 5: Phosphate Test Results

Water Sample

Test Results

Tap Water

10 ppm

Dasani® Bottled Water

25 ppm

Fiji® Bottled Water

50 ppm

Table 6: Iron Test Results

Water Sample

Test Results

Tap Water

0.10

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 = Tap water would have the most contaminates due to its travel through different pipes. Dasani water would have the least contaminates being that it’s treated and Fiji water comes from a natural spring.

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 not accept or reject as Fiji and tap water has contaminants with Dasani being 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 = Not a big difference as all water is treated except water from a natural spring. Although, it seems that Dasani would be the cleanest and you would think that Fiji water would be the purest as it is from a natural spring and I personally like spring water or purified.

4. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Why or why not?

Answer = Yes, I believe that bottled water is worth the price as the water in my area would come from the Chattahoochee river and no matter how much its treated the taste is horrible.

References

http://www.epa.gov/region1

http://www.esciencelabs.com

http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/pub/content/82e31666-ce69-4a7a-9c19-17671261390c/SCI207.W2.Lab.pdf

*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.

© eScience Labs, 2013

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