Water Quality and Contamination experiments research

Lab 2: Water Quality and Contaminationexperiments

                                                                                                            

Abstract

 The experiment investigates the quality of water and contamination of groundwater. Establishing the quality of water is through examining the biological, physical and chemical characteristics of water. These processes were vital in determining how fit and safe water can be for human consumption and also in ensuring that humans are not affected by diseases and chemicals causing organisms. This lab report will first observe the effects of various pollutants of groundwater. My prediction is that vinegar and oil in this experiment would contribute to a large quality of water contamination and that laundry detergent will change the appearance of water and give it a bad smell. Based on the thickness and smells of these ingredients, the water quality will be affected as shown by its cloudy appearance and bad smell. After filtering water, I will be purified and be clear. The second experiment involves water filtering and experiment. My prediction is that when contaminated water is filtered and treated, then its level of contamination is lowered or that the water no longer becomes contaminated. The final experiment involves comparing three types of water to find out which of them has the most chemicals and contamination. This was done by analyzing three types of water samples, which areDasani® bottled water, Tap water and Fiji® bottled water.

Introduction

 Water is a valuable resource on this planet because it is vital for the survival of plants, animals and human beings. Water is part of human necessity in areas such as drinking, food production and creating houses. There is a small percentage of usable freshwater on the planet with about 99% of water bring salt water. There are several contaminants that affect the quality of water supply. These contaminants include human waste, laundry detergents, cooking oil, farming activities, gasoline, acidic chemicals, and motor oil among others. These contaminants find their way to aquifers and ground storage regions. Plants, animals and humans are at risk of contamination and gets the disease by consuming contaminated water. Toxins and poisons in the water are the causes of deadly diseases. For example, humans consume water contaminated with lead; they are at a high risk of getting cancer (Renner, 2009).

The government has taken steps in raising the wastewater treatment for water treatment plants. Hover, some contaminants find their way to water supply storages that have been filtered and treated US Environmental Protection Agency has passed policies to raise the standard of drinking water as seen in the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Despite the policies, they water supply plants in various municipalities have failed to adhere with the standards. These municipalities’ water supply agencies also face challenges as the high cost of establishing high-quality filtration systems that are effective in trapping all forms of contaminants that could not be eliminated through the traditional methods (EPA 2006).

 Objective

 Three different experiments will be investigated to determine the final hypothesis about water quality and contamination. The first experiment will analyze the effects of contamination of ground water. The second experiment looks into the issue of water treatment and the third-experiment analyzes the quality of drinking water. There are numerous sampling devices for ground water collection; however, every application has its requirements, and it depends on the type of contaminants. Various sampling devices and applicability of these devices are used for determining contamination. Analysis and preservation techniques for quality assurance and control will be presented.

Hypothesis

Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination

Hypothesis: when the different types of contaminated water in Beakers are filtered through the soil filter, they will still come out with dirt.

 Oil will be visible in the water when left to settle, and it will separate from water. Water appearance will not change when mixed with vinegar and will also not separate from water. Mixing of laundry detergent to the water will lead to a difference approach whereby water becomes cloudy and soapy.

 Experiment 2: Water Treatment

 Hypothesis: filtration of dirt from the water will be successful but still there will be a small amount of impurities present in water. Thus, water filtration will not be sufficient as a means of water purification and improving its quality. Traces of oil can be visible after filtering the water and, therefore, water is still dirty and contaminated. When vinegar is mixed with water, dirt is filtered. However, there will be a noticeable strong smell of vinegar and a cloudy appearance of water from dirt. Suds from water can be filtered, but still there will be some traces of this contaminant when water is stirred.

Experiment 3: Quality of Drinking water

 Fiji water has the possibility of having a high amount of minerals. Tap water will not be similar to bottle water of Dasani and Fiji in terms of its quality and safety for drinking.

Materials and Methods

Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination

In the experiment to test groundwater contaminates, materials used include three-stir sticks made of wood, eight Beakers of 250-ml, 10-ml of vegetable oil, 100-ml graduated cylinder, liquid laundry detergent of 10-ml, vinegar 10-ml, 240-ml of soil, water, cheesecloth, funnel and liquid laundry detergent of 10-ml. The eight 250-ml Beakers were labeled with a marker from number one to eight. Five through eight were set aside while the Beakers labeled 1 to 4 were filled with 100-ml of water. The graduated cylinder of 100-ml helped in measuring this amount of water. 10-ml of vegetable oil is placed on Beaker number two and stirred thoroughly with a wooden stir stick. 10-ml vinegar was added in Beaker number 3 and also thoroughly stirred with a wooden stick. Liquid laundry detergent of 10-ml was added in Beaker number four and stirred with a wooden stick.

I indicated or noted down my observation of the changes happening in the Beakers one to four. Observations indicated in table 1. The second section of the experiment involves cutting four pieces of cheesecloth into the funnel and soil of 60ML is measured with the help of 100ML cylinder. The solid is poured into the funnel. From Beaker one, I pour its contents through the funnel and let it filter to Beaker labeled 5. I repeat the same for the other three Beakers (2, 3 and 4) using the same technique pouring their contents to Beakers 6 to eight. I observe the reactions taking place in Beakers five through 8 and record them on table 1.