Sampling Spring Creek to Determine the Water Chemistry at Specific Areas
Objectives: This lab examines the water chemistry of Spring Creek at the following locations: Chester County Camp, Galbraith Gap Run (at the bridge), Spring Creek at Boalsburg’s Military Museum, Spring Creek Park, Fisherman’s Paradise, Spring Creek at Bellefonte (below Buffalo Run), and Spring Creek at Milesburg in order to determine how land use by humans, along with the lithology of the area, affects the creek and its ecosystem over time. Monitoring the water chemistry of a creek enables scientists to ensure the area is relatively pollution free, continues to follow the normal data trends for pH, conductivity, temperature, and nitrate concentration measurements, and …show more content…
All instruments were calibrated prior to taking measurements, and the standard values were checked immediately before collecting data. Between each submergence of the instruments in the creek, they were rinsed with distilled water and wiped down with a Kimwipe, which was repeated before and after each measurement was taken. To standardize the pH measurement, the pH probe was submerged in the 4.01 ± 0.01 or in the 7.01 ± 0.01 buffer solution, and the reading was then compared to the true pH of the solution to ensure the pH probe was reading correctly. Then the probe was submerged into slow moving water. The pH value obtained from the creek was checked against a pH strip. Once the probe displayed a constant value, the value was recorded, and the probe was taken out of the creek and placed back in the storage solution. The conductivity meter was standardized by placing it into a standard conductivity solution of 10 ± 0.1 µS. The value was recorded, and then the meter was placed into the creek. Once both the conductivity value and the temperature reached a steady value, the data was recorded, and the conductivity meter was removed and put away. The nitrate concentration was measured in two steps. The first step was to rinse out the sample vials with stream water, and then collect 45 ± 0.1 mL …show more content…
The data shows that the more downstream the site was, the higher the nitrate concentration is as shown by the values of Galbraith Gap Run and the Milesburg site, with the exception of the Military Museum. Generally, the filtered water had less nitrate present than the unfiltered sample that was tested, though the difference was not much. .
Discussion: Overall, the trends in the data show that the more downstream sites have an increased value of pH, conductivity, and nitrate concentrations, while the temperature decreases as the measurements get further from the headwaters. This may be due to the activity that occurs at each site. At Chester County Camp and Galbraith Gap Run, the land is used in a more natural sense, so there are not as many pollutants and impurities in the water created by humans as there are in the more downstream areas. The downstream sites were more urbanized, and thus, they have the capability to be more polluted than the upstream
Objectives: This lab examines the water chemistry of Spring Creek at the following locations: Chester County Camp, Galbraith Gap Run (at the bridge), Spring Creek at Boalsburg’s Military Museum, Spring Creek Park, Fisherman’s Paradise, Spring Creek at Bellefonte (below Buffalo Run), and Spring Creek at Milesburg in order to determine how land use by humans, along with the lithology of the area, affects the creek and its ecosystem over time. Monitoring the water chemistry of a creek enables scientists to ensure the area is relatively pollution free, continues to follow the normal data trends for pH, conductivity, temperature, and nitrate concentration measurements, and …show more content…
All instruments were calibrated prior to taking measurements, and the standard values were checked immediately before collecting data. Between each submergence of the instruments in the creek, they were rinsed with distilled water and wiped down with a Kimwipe, which was repeated before and after each measurement was taken. To standardize the pH measurement, the pH probe was submerged in the 4.01 ± 0.01 or in the 7.01 ± 0.01 buffer solution, and the reading was then compared to the true pH of the solution to ensure the pH probe was reading correctly. Then the probe was submerged into slow moving water. The pH value obtained from the creek was checked against a pH strip. Once the probe displayed a constant value, the value was recorded, and the probe was taken out of the creek and placed back in the storage solution. The conductivity meter was standardized by placing it into a standard conductivity solution of 10 ± 0.1 µS. The value was recorded, and then the meter was placed into the creek. Once both the conductivity value and the temperature reached a steady value, the data was recorded, and the conductivity meter was removed and put away. The nitrate concentration was measured in two steps. The first step was to rinse out the sample vials with stream water, and then collect 45 ± 0.1 mL …show more content…
The data shows that the more downstream the site was, the higher the nitrate concentration is as shown by the values of Galbraith Gap Run and the Milesburg site, with the exception of the Military Museum. Generally, the filtered water had less nitrate present than the unfiltered sample that was tested, though the difference was not much. .
Discussion: Overall, the trends in the data show that the more downstream sites have an increased value of pH, conductivity, and nitrate concentrations, while the temperature decreases as the measurements get further from the headwaters. This may be due to the activity that occurs at each site. At Chester County Camp and Galbraith Gap Run, the land is used in a more natural sense, so there are not as many pollutants and impurities in the water created by humans as there are in the more downstream areas. The downstream sites were more urbanized, and thus, they have the capability to be more polluted than the upstream