Lab 5 Freshwater Ecosystems & Water Testing

 Part A.  Fresh Water Testing/ Water Monitoring

I chose Sedona Redrock Crossing to sample my water from for this lab.  I wanted to see how fresh our "local" water was.  The results were a lot different the I thought.


 I tested for these items

 Temperature
Checked to see if there was consistent temperature rating *important for animal/plant life

 Dissolved Oxygen
Checked to see saturate oxygen amount
mixed in tablets and shook for four minutes
let sit for 5 minutes for color to develop

                                                            pH Level
                                                      Added 1 pH tablet to water
                                                       shook until tablet dissolved

 Nitrate
Added  1 nitrate tablet
shook for 2 minutes
let sit for 5 minutes
repeated twice
because color was so light
but you can make out
slight pink tinge

                                                             Phosphate
                                                           Added 1 Phospate tablet
                                                           shook for for 4 minutes
                                                           waited for 5 minutes

 Turbidity ( Hard to get picture of both, but no change to color means no JTU/ gunk in water)
Place sticker in sample container and let sit for 24 hours.  Test sticker changed very slightly from original color almost not at all. 

Biochemical Oxygen Dissolved

Covered water in test tube
for 5 days at room temperature
Added two oxygen capsules on
5th day and shook for 4 minutes
Let sit 5 minutes
We can see similar color to
that of dissolved oxygen, but
slightly darker













                                       Coliform

                                                                                                       Add water to container with tablet
                                                                                                       to fill line.
                                                                                                        Store for 48 hours room temperature
                                                                                                        do not move or shake during  
                                                                                                        incubation period

Test Factor	Temperature	Coliform Bacteria	Dissolved Oxygen	BOD	Nitrate	pH	Phosphate	Turbidity
Results	18 C Downstream	3 ppm	4 ppm	6 ppm	2 ppm	7 pH	2 ppm	10 JTU
	19 C Up Stream		18 Celsius
			44 Percent Saturation
Rankings	Temp. Rating Excellent	Between Excellent	Poor Rating	Between Good	Appears to be Good	Excellent Rating	Good Rating	Close To Excellent
	1 Degree Difference	And Good Rating		And Fair Rating	Or Excellent Rating			Rating Falls Into
					Test was very clear color			Good Rating
					Repeated Twice
					With Same Results

Results
Overall the water sample I tested shows that the water in Sedona is at a overall good rating.  I was surprised to find that the Saturated Oxygen level was so low and that the nitrate levels were also low.  I thought it would have been reversed.  The water appears to very healthy according to the tests.
Low Rankings
The lowest tests was the dissolved oxygen test and the biochemical oxygen demand.  What this indicates is the water isn't very oxygenated and doesn't contain much saturated oxygen.  While there could be many factors to this, it could simply mean there is not much plant life in the water helping produce and oxygenate the water.
Positive Rankings
All other tests confirmed very good results, the water is fresh and "healthy".  It has no levels of containment, low nitrate levels ( did the test twice to make validate), little to no coliform (bacteria), consistent temperature, very low turbidity, a decent phosphate amount and a perfect pH score.  This water is pure and is able to sustain some life was well.  I saw fish and tadpoles in the water, as well as some moss.  However there was very little plant life in the water.

Part B.  Thinking About the World’s Water

I chose Peak Water by Meena Palaniappan and Peter H. Gleick.

     Peak Water talks about the issue of human’s having reached peak amounts of water available.  We have discovered the most we are able to discover currently and it is going to go down from there, which this article relates back to oil as it has faced a similar trend.  Oil and water both are similar and different where oil is limited and water could be limitless depending on technology developments such as removing salt form water to gather water from the ocean.  Water has no substitute and the concept that it is running out can be confusing as there is water all around us, but with fresh water being hard to get to and expensive to retrieve/transport it has started to create a deficit.  Certain areas with easy access are used up and climate change has effected water around the globe creating scarcities. Ground water is being used faster than can be replaced.  Peak water is something humans should be aware of, as we reach the apex of water consumption we will follow the path downwards if too much is consumed.  Water is a vital part of life and cannot be replaced.

Reaction to Reading

    This article makes a lot of sense to me.  I hear about the lack of water in certain areas such as California and how citizens are being limited and charged large amounts of money for its over usage.  Even here in our own community we have water limits and days we should water our plants on.  When you think about how much water there is you wonder how can we run out, but if you think about we have aces to water and use water every day.  Combine that with everyone else in your community and it is almost and absurd amount of water usage.  So it does make sense how we can run out and the article also points out eventually there will be a tipping point or the peak amount we can get and use before it all goes downhill to where there is a very limited supply.