Science- Rough Draft essay

Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination

Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination

Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.)
Beaker	Observations
1 (water)	Clear, small bubbles, no smell
2 (oil)	The liquids separated, oil floats, no smell, slight color change
3 (vinegar)	Liquids combined, clear, vinegar smell, no bubbles
4 (laundry detergent)	Color changed to the color of the detergent, smells like the laundry soap, liquids combined
5 (soil + water)	Color changed to dirt brown, smells like dirt, some dirt has fallen to the bottom of the beaker
6 (soil + oil)	Color changed to brown, oil still sits at the top, no smell, oil separated, some dirt has fallen to the bottom of the beaker
7 (soil + vinegar)	Color changed to light brown, faint smell of vinegar, some dirt at the bottom, small bubbles
8 (soil + laundry detergent)	Color changed to a dark mix of green/ brown, laundry soap smell is still present, most of the dirt has fallen to the bottom of the beaker soapy bubbles

POST LAB QUESTIONS

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

a. Oil hypothesis = I believe that oil has the ability to contaminate groundwater due to it’s a thick liquid substance.

b. Vinegar hypothesis = I believe that vinegar has the ability to contaminate groundwater due to its strong smell.

c. Laundry detergent hypothesis = I believe that laundry detergent has the ability to contaminate groundwater due to its harmful ingredients.

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 = I would accept the hypothesis produced in question one and this was determined by the observations in the experiment.

b. Vinegar hypothesis accept/reject = I would accept the hypothesis produced in question one and this was also determined by the observations found in experiment one.

c. Laundry detergent hypothesis accept/reject = I would accept the hypothesis produced in question one due to the results found in experiment one.

3. What effect 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 = Each contaminant except the oil had an effect on the color, smell and all of the contaminants including the oil had a major effect on the consistency or purity of the water.

4. Using at least one scholarly source; discuss the potential effect of each contaminant (oil, vinegar, and detergent) on the town’s water source and the people who drank the water.

Answer = Oil, vinegar, and detergent has a major effect on water. According to Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine, the threat to groundwater from these toxic products is real. That's why state and federal resources are devoted to finding these sites and cleaning them up. Many programs exist to clean up sites, from the federal Superfund program to address the worst sites in the nation, to the state cleanup program that includes spill response, leaking underground storage tanks, the state Superfund program, and a focus on cleaning up "brownfields" (properties that have been abandoned or are underutilized because of actual or perceived contamination).

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Magazine (April, 2006)

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 = Illegal dumping in sewers, rivers, lakes and other water reservoirs are all human activities that could contaminate the water supply. The items I my household that could contaminate the water supply is perfume, body wash or dish soap, and household cleaning products.

Experiment 2: Water Treatment

POST LAB QUESTIONS

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

Hypothesis = I believe in the ability of my filtration technique to remove some of the solid contaminants and some of the liquid contaminants but certainly not all.

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 accept the hypothesis produced in question one. Although the water did come out cleaner that before it was still not as clear as I would hope nor was it drinkable because not all of the contaminants was removed.

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

Answer = The contaminated water produced a dark brown color, had a slight dirt smell and there was no visibility. The treated water was a light brown color (after a couple of hours the water did finally clear completely), no smell, and clear visibility.

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. Additionally, describe how each of the processes were performed in this lab.

Answer = Coagulation was used in this process. The alum is added to the incoming water and then stirred vigorously in a powerful mixer. The alum causes compounds such as carbonates and hydroxides to form tiny, sticky clumps called floc that attract dirt and other small particles. Sedimentation was also used in which the heavy particles that sank to the bottom during coagulation are separated out and the remaining water is sent on to filtration. Filtration was used in this process in which, the water passes through filters made of layers of sand, charcoal, gravel and pebbles that help filter out the smaller particles that have passed through until this point. The last step where the bleach was added was disinfection. This was to kill any lasting bacteria that may have lived throughout the filtering process.

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	0
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	7	80	4.0	250
Dasani® Bottled Water	3	40	0.2	50
Fiji® Bottled Water	7	40	4.0	50

Table 5: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results
Tap Water	10
Dasani® Bottled Water	10
Fiji® Bottled Water	100

Table 6: Iron Test Results
Water Sample	Test Results
Tap Water	0
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 chemical components.

Hypothesis = I believe that bottle water and tap water are the same in purity.

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 reject my hypothesis because although the tap water I used came out as I expected (because I live in Dallas where the city receives federal funds to do extra purification test on the water), the Fiji water results really surprised me because it is the most expensive out of the three.

3. Based on the results of your experiment, what major differences, if any, do you notice between the Dasani, Fiji, and tap water?

Answer = The ph in the tap water and the Fiji water had the same results which is very interesting. The tap water is the cleanest.

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

Answer = No, definitely not in the city that I live in. Bottled water is expensive and the only need for it is when there is a shortage. I have officially bought my last bottle of water.

*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.

References

Any sources utilized should be listed here.