I’m reporting to the watershed area of the Conodoguinet Creek to discuss possible pollution in the creek. A type of pollution that can be a problem is Eutrophication. Eutrophication is the enrichment of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients. The Conodoguinet Creek runs through agricultural land, which means a lot of fertilizer. Phosphates and nitrates are found in fertilizers. When farmers use too much fertilizers, it can leak into the creek when it rains. When a lot of fertilizer gets into the creek in can get too many nutrients, and then excessive amounts of algae will grow causing many more problems. Acid rain is also another problem. Acid rain is caused by fossil fuels being burned, from cars, factories, etc. Acid rain can get into the …show more content…
The eutrophication test tested if the creek has too many nutrients. If we found high levels of phosphate and nitrate in the water, that would mean the creek has eutrophication, which is bad. Phosphate and nitrates are found in fertilizers, and some detergents. On average, we found out the creek had .1% phosphate in it which is good.We, also, found out that was .9% nitrate in the creek, which is also good. The dissolved oxygen test tested how much oxygen was in the water. We found a 9.8% average for dissolved oxygen, which determines the type and number of macroinvertebrates that may live there. In past years it was tested that the water was warmer. The velocity of the water could affect this. As a result, I conducted the river does not have eutrophication.
We also did acidity test, to see if acid rain affect the creek. We got 7 PPM at the pH paper test, which means the pH level is neutral. When we tested the alkalinity level which is on average 13 PPM. This means when acid rain hits the creek, the alkalinity neutralizes the acid. We, also tested how many rocks neutralize acid. In total, 65 rocks neutralize acid, whereas 29 did not neutralize acid, which is about 70%. I conducted that acid rain does not affect the river, so acid rain is not a problem for the
This is a map of the Conodoguinet Creek, where the 8-Orange team of East Pennsboro Middle School went yesterday to study the creek. The 8-Orange team, including myself was studying to see if the Conodoguinet Creek had any type of pollution. The reasons for us going down to the creek to test is the problems we have in Central, Pa. Some problems are the acid rain coming from the Power Plants down the road, and sometimes from Pittsburg, Pa also. Theres many more problems but these are the two main ones. We all split up into three groups which were, finding the velocity of the surface water, identifying the different critters there are in the creek, and testing the water for (phosphate, nitrate, and dissolved oxygen). It was incredible we all got different amounts of data.
We did 3 different test to help conclude the water quality. The first testing/station i did was to see what kind of critters were living in the water. Then, my next group was to take a test to see if eutrophication was in the water. We also took
At the first station I was at, we were looking for macroinvertebrates and crustaceans. When we found one of the insects we had to determine which group they belonged in. One way to determine if the water is polluted is to look at which group the critters are mostly from. My group and I tested this by taking turns going into the creek and finding a rock to bring out. When we brought the rock out of the water and back to our group we had to make sure to turn the rock over because the critters normally live on the bottoms of the rocks and most likely would fall off if you didn’t turn it over. After we all took turns a couple of times
Each person got to test either the phosphates, nitrates, dissolved oxygen, or the ph in the creek. Phosphates and nitrates are nutrients found in water due to fertilizers, decaying plants and bacteria. Dissolved oxygen is the amount of gaseous oxygen dissolved in the water. As we recorded our results, we discovered that the dissolved oxygen levels were very high, which is good because the higher amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, the healthier the creek is. The phosphates levels in the creek were all perfect zeros, which is great because having nutrients in the creek is not healthy. The nitrate levels were slightly higher, at 0.9. That is not bad at all, but it isn’t perfect, showing signs of pollution. The ph levels in the rocks were neutral, right at seven. If they were lower than 7, that would mean they have acids in them, and if they were higher than 7, they would have alkaline in them. Alkaline, or bases, neutralizes acids. The number of rocks that we found that neutralized acid was 65, and the number of rocks that did not neutralize acids were 29. This shows that about one-third of the rocks in the creek do not neutralize acids.
Methodology: The water samples will be collected utilizing sterile plastic water bottles from Lake Tarpon. The location the samples will be collected from is Anderson Park, by the boat docks, located at 39669 U.S. 19, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689. The water samples will be brought to Tarpon Springs High School to be tested, located at 1411 Gulf Rd, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689. The phosphate, nitrate, and dissolved oxygen levels will be tested utilizing various LaMotte water testing kits,
The first piece of evidence supporting this statement is a water quality index of 48. The 7 pollution sensitive organisms in the creek are worth three points each on the water quality index, plus the 10 moderately tolerant organisms each 2 points and the 7 tolerant organisms each 1 point add up to get the 48 water quality index. The water quality level is considered excellent if it is 23 or above. The water quality in the U-High creek is more than twice that. There were many different types of organisms found in the creek including 7 pollution intolerant micro invertebrates. The total number of organisms including the 88 pollution intolerant Caddis fly larvae point to a low pollution level in the creek. The 10 moderately tolerant micro invertebrates also point to low polluted creek. There were also a high number of midges and aquatic worms. The water in the creek was also very clear and did not have a smell. There were many small fish and plants growing in and around it concluding a low pollution level in the
The first station we had was counting crustaceans and macroinvertebrates in the water. We found 113 critters that belonged in group 1 which means it is quality water. There were 2 organisms in group 2 which was somewhat quality water. Also, 16 critters in group 3 which means the water is very polluted. Overall, based on the critter
The spatiotemporal pattern of water quality in the Reedy Fork and Buffalo Creek watersheds exhibits a trend of river deterioration, mainly due to Fecal Coliform. Our study suggests that most of the pollution sources were related to human activities. Looking at table 2a to 5b, it is clear that, F.Col, coliform is the dominant parameter with the highest means in all the sites, both at the Reedy Fork and Buffalo Creek watersheds. However, there are higher mean values of this nutrient in the Buffalo Creek watershed than the Reedy Fork creek watershed. This is clearly visible by looking at the variation in mean variable concentrations for the individual sites through the years under study from the graphs.
Newtown creek is a 3.8-mile waterway located on the border of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City and was once a busy center for industrial activity. More than 50 factories were located along its banks, including oil refineries, petrochemical plants, sawmills, and lumber and coal yards. The Creek was also the site of one of the largest oil spill in the U.S. (EPA, 2007). As a consequence, the soil surrounding the area became polluted with toxic heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and was declared a Superfund site. The Superfund Program requires responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for cleanups led by EPA. Superfund sites are hazardous to human health and to the environment. benz[a]anthracene,
The pH scale is 1 to 14, 7 being the best quality. To the right is a pH scale. 7 is what the water should be. 7 is also what we had for the creek average. We had a higher number of rocks neutralizing acid (limestone is the stone found mostly in the creek) than the ones that don’t. this means that the acid rain we get is mostly neutralized by limestone in the stream. We get acid rain from Philadelphia. This is because of the massive steel companies. All of the toxic smoke comes over and comes down in the conodoguinet as acid rain. So the creek is non-acidic and non-alkaline.
or three to do the tests. There were three different elements to test for (phosphate, nitrate, and dissolved oxygen). After EVERY GROUP did a test for each element we than found the averages of each element. Phosphate’s average was 0.1 parts per million, Nitrate came in at 0.9 parts per million and dissolved oxygen had a grand total of 9.8 parts per million. These numbers were average, they weren't great but they were not awful. These numbers also proved that the creek is not
One of the things students tested in the creek was the chemical composition. We were testing for eutrophication and acid rain pollution. As was aforementioned, eutrophication is extra nutrients in the water. It comes from runoff from the land through the form of overfertilization and sewage treatment plants. The tests performed to test for eutrophication were nitrate and phosphate tests. The phosphate and nitrate tests were conducted by filling a cup with water and breaking the tip of an ampule so it would fill with water. The liquid in the ampule would change color based on the amount of phosphate or nitrate in the water. Phosphate is a salt or ester of phosphoric acid containing PO43− or a related anion or a group such as —OPO(OH)2 in fertilizers and sewage treatment plants. Either or both of those two things could have runoff from the land and drained into the creek. They are negative to the creek. Our results showed that the creek
The health of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay was found based on Biological (macroinvertebrates and wildlife) and Chemicals characteristics (pH, dissolved oxygen, phosphates, nitrates, etc.) as well as physical observations (amount of forested buffers, wetlands, etc.) Overall it was concluded that the health of the water was good to excellent. What was found was that many of the macroinvertebrates found in the water were sensitive or facultative, meaning the water quality was good enough for them to live in. Also, the level of ph, temperature, dissolved oxygen, phosphates, nitrates, and turbidity showed that the water quality was good. Finally, while we were canoeing down the Susquehanna River, observations were made on the land
Through our research we aimed to determine if there were any differences in water quality of both the north and south forks of Strawberry Creek. As time progresses and the environment changes it is important to keep track of how certain species are being impacted by these features, and how they cope with change. We hypothesized that due to the lack of pollution, the south fork will promote a greater diversity of macroinvertebrates. This was due to the fact that there was less runoff and trash that could be introduced to the water in the south fork, than there was in the north fork. We gathered data by analyzing the different organisms living in both forks. We collected a total of fifty vials composed of five organisms from each fork, and inspected them under microscopic view. After gathering data and identifying the different kinds of organisms living in the different forks we assessed whether the organisms from the samples could live in high or low resolution water. We also took a t-test to assess the probability of these differences being due to relevant factors or by chance. Our major findings suggest that organisms in the south fork showed a higher demand to living in cleaner water indicating that our hypothesis was correct.
Overall, the more macroinvertebrates in the water, the healthier the stream. pH is a measure of how acidic or basic water is. It is measured on a scale from 0-14. 0 is the most acidic, 14 is the most basic, and 7 is neutral. It is the measure of the relative amount of free hydrogen and hydroxide ions in the water. Acidic water has more hydrogen ions, and basic water has more hydroxide ions. When water’s pH is around neutral (7), that is a suitable and healthy living environment for fish, and indicates a healthy stream. If the water is too acidic or too basic, it can be harmful to the aquatic life. Dissolved oxygen is a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water. As the amount of dissolved oxygen drops below normal levels in water bodies, the water quality is harmed and creatures begin to die off as a result of eutrophication. The higher the level of dissolved oxygen, the healthier the stream. When there is a lot of dissolved oxygen present it makes for a safe environment for fish to live and reproduce. Having all this healthy fish can provide us with food, so overall the more dissolved oxygen, the better. Nitrates are a compound found in fertilizers that is used to help plants grow. It is what is given off as a result of the use of nitrogen in water. The organisms in the soil eat the nitrates and it helps the metabolism and the health of organisms. Plants, such as Algae use nitrates as a source