You are required to write a complete laboratory report that covers the drinking water quality experiment from “Lab 2: Water Quality and Contamination”. Be sure to use theFinal Lab Report Template and utilize this form (not the Rough Draft template) to ens

Laboratory Report

Ashford University: SCI 207

Professor Catrina Frey

November 14, 2016

Water is the most basic commodity in life and all creatures need it for their survival. As it is often said, water is equal life and this statement is true because without water there can be existence of any form of life. Human beings, animals and plants require water for certain physiological processes to take place and this is of importance in growth, multiplication, replication of cells needed to repair damaged cells and bring healing in cases of sickness. Water is the major medium of transport in both plants and animals and this is of great importance as when nutrients are transported in the organism’s body the organism grows and flourishes. With the right amounts of waterman greater diversity of both plants and animals also develop and this has many benefits to any ecosystem. Even though water is needed everywhere, its quality is the most important factor. The better the quality of water the more safe it is for any form of consumption and the less dangers it posses to those consuming it. Certain aspects of water determine the quality of water and need to be carefully maintained within the desired ranges. These ranges are set by government controlled bodies and need to be strictly adhered to as any slight deviation could lead to serious health related problems. The toxic levels should not be exceeded. The factors that need to be put into most consideration include the water microbiological load, the ph, chlorine and other mineral amounts. The phosphorus level should range between 0.005 and 0.05mg/lathe ph should be within the range of .In the recent years, water packaging into what is potently referred to as bottled water has gained popularity. Many people have ventured into the multimillion businesses as the consumers of the products are increase as the days go by (Pant et al, 2016). For this reason, I set out an experiment using two brands of the bottled water and tap water to determine that Fiji has the least amount of contamination while tap water has the highest amount of contamination.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of my experiment was to determine by comparison whether indeed the Fiji brand of tapped water has the least amount of contaminants while tap water has the highest amount of contamination.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis is that:

Fiji water has the least amount of contamination while tap water has the highest amount of contamination.

Materials and method

Adjani water

Fiji water

Tap water

Science laboratory testing kit.

The disdain, Fiji and tap water were my test materials and the science laboratory kit contained the test instructions that I followed for the different tests carried out.

Methods for each test

Ammonia Test

Chloride Test

Phosphate Test

Iron Test

PH Test

RESULT TABLES

Table 1

Table 1: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water	0mg/l
Adjani® Bottled Water	0mg/l
Fiji® Bottled Water	0ml/l

Table 2

Table 2: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water	12mg/l
Adjani® Bottled Water	5mg/l
Fiji® Bottled Water	9.2ml/l

Table 3

Table 3: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample	Total Alkalinity (mg/L)	Total Chlorine (mg/L)	Total Hardness (mg/L)
Tap Water	300mg/l	12mg/l	200
Adjani® Bottled Water	0mg/l	5mg/l	120
Fiji® Bottled Water	240mg/l	9.2mg/l	120

Table 4

Table 4: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results (pap)
Tap Water	0
Adjani® Bottled Water	0
Fiji® Bottled Water	0

Table 5

Table 5: Iron Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results (pap)
Tap Water	0
Adjani® Bottled Water	0
Fiji® Bottled Water	0

Table 6

Table 6: pH Results
Water Sample	Test Results
Tap Water	7.0
Adjani® Bottled Water	5.0
Fiji® Bottled Water	6.5

DISCUSSION 1

From the experiment, my hypothesis was proved right since it seemed the tap water had higher levels of most of the contaminants compared to Fiji and disdain with the contamination levels being the least in Fiji water. The margins were not that big but if a statically analysis was to be done the likelihood of a significant difference being observed between the two is very likely.

DISCUSSION 2

Water contamination is a problem that is widely experienced in the world and it is of great concern since it touches the sensitivity of human and plant life. Normal tap water is portable for basic uses such as cleaning but when it comes to drinking care should be taken. This is because, although the various processing companies could go through all the necessary steps, contamination somewhere along the transportation pipes can occur leading to serious health problem. The water bottling industry has come in hand to help finish this problem as it majorly takes the water through various stages of production and then carefully packaging the water into sealable bottles ensuring that the final product that reaches the consumer is of great quality and safe for their consumption health wise. In most cases the water gapes through filtration for purity using highly advanced treatment by reverse osmosis and enhanced with minerals for a pure fresh taste. These minerals are beneficial to the body in one-way or the other. Some processes pump extra oxygen into the water making it more refreshing and healthy. The microbiological content is carefully monitored and all disease causing microorganisms filtered and the water filtered to ensure maximum safety (Pant et al., 2016). This million-dollar industry is worth because at the end of the day the water is not sold so expensively and at the same time it ensures reduced disease risk. Safety of people is maintained with the bottled water. The main concern about this bottled water is its use of plastic containers which are non biodegradable for its packlaging.This should be discouraged as it might affect the environment with time if not carefully monitored and addressed.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

The measurement needed a lot of concentration and human errors could not be avoided at some point due to wrong measurements and spillages. This can be avoided in future by ensuring maximum concentration during the experiment. Involvement of people to assist in carrying out the sensory evaluation should also be included since the opinion of people (consumers) in food and drinks evaluation is of great importance.

CONCLUSION

Water contamination is a real problem that people face on a daily basis. From my experiment it is clear that tap water is okay for other uses but not human consumption. The bottled water goes through a lot of processing and this makes it very safe for drinking. People should therefore always be careful with the water they drink as it can have adverse effects on their health.

REFERENCES

Bottcher, A., & Rex, A. (2012). Environmental science student manual. Sheridan, CO: eScience Labs.

Dutt Pant, N., Poudyal, N., Kumar Bhattacharya, S., Pant, N. D., & Bhattacharya, S. K. (2016). Bacteriological quality of bottled drinking water versus municipal tap water in Dharan municipality, Nepal. Journal Of Health, Population & Nutrition, 351-6. doi:10.1186/s41043-016-0054-0