Essay on Water Quality and Contamination based on week 2 lab

Lab 2 - 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 on 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

Hypothesis: Using the same water source, amount of soil and procedures for pouring beaker 1-4 through the required funnel, water can be contaminated in different forms such as acid, oil, and detergents all reacting differently.

Post-Lab Questions

1. Restate your hypothesis. Was it confirmed or denied? How do you know?

I would say that my hypothesis was correct as I thought that the three different contaminents would act differently in the water. Some would be easy to see some would only be identifyable by their odo.

2. 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?

All of the three contaminets held on to the sediment from the soil, assuming to strip the soil of some of it’s natural properties. Regular water didn’t seem to have much effect on the soil, vinegar was only identifyable mostly by it’s smell, oil sat on top of the water and resumed that spot after a it settled after mixing, the detergent seemed to disapate with no odor but carried the most sediment with it making it the most cloudy.

3. On a larger scale, what type of affects would these contaminants have on a town’s water source and the people who drank the water?

I would think that all of them could effect water is a towns as some would taste it in their water, others would probably be alarmed by it’s smell. It would be hard to say whether these contaminents would be able to naturally filter their way out before they got to a main underwater source.

4. What type of human activity would cause contaminants like oil, acid and detergents to flow into the water supply?

Oils can be spilt pretty easily when doing any type of work to motorized vehicles, acid I think would come from pollution and distributed into the groud during a rainfall, and detergents could possibly get to the water source by sewage from people as well as run off from farmers fields.

5. What other items within your house do you believe could contaminate the water supply if you were to dump them into the ground?

I think the ones that would be most detrimental are again sewage from using the dishwasher/clothes washer/ and using cleaning products that are flushed down the drains in our homes. Others things that I can think of would be different oil based products that I use in the garage; motor oil, gasoline, anit-freeze.

Lab 2 - Experiment 2: Water Treatment

Hypothesis:

Post-Lab Questions

1. Restate your hypothesis. Was it confirmed or denied? How do you know?

2. What are the differences between the “contaminated” water and the “treated” water (look at color, smell, visibility, etc.)?

3. 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.

Lab 2 - Experiment 3: Drinking Water Quality

Table 2: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results
Tap Water
Dasani® Bottled Water
Fiji® Bottled Water

Table 3: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results
Tap Water
Dasani® Bottled Water
Fiji® Bottled Water

Table 4: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample	pH	Total Alkalinity	Total Chlorine	Total Hardness
Tap Water
Dasani® Bottled Water
Fiji® Bottled Water

Table 5: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results
Tap Water
Dasani® Bottled Water
Fiji® Bottled Water

Table 6: Iron Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results
Tap Water
Dasani® Bottled Water
Fiji® Bottled Water

Hypothesis:

Post-Lab Questions

1. Restate your hypothesis. Was it confirmed or denied? How do you know?

2. After comparing the results of tap water and bottled water, what major differences, if any, do you notice between the two?

3. From your results, do you believe that bottled water is a healthier alternative when compared to tap water? Why or why not?