Lab 2: Water Quality and Contamination,
You are required to write a complete laboratory report that covers all three experiments for “Lab 2: Water Quality and Contamination,” using knowledge gained throughout the course. To begin, download the Final Lab Report Template and utilize this form to ensure proper formatting and inclusion of all required material. Additionally, view the Sample Final Lab Report before beginning this assignment, which will illustrate what a Final Lab Report should look like. You must use at least four scholarly sources and your lab manual to support your points. The report must be six to ten pages in length (excluding the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar.
The Final Lab Report must contain the following eight sections in this order:
- Title Page – This page must include the title of your report, your name, course name, instructor, and date submitted.
- Abstract – This section should provide a brief summary of the methods, results, and conclusions. It should allow the reader to see what was done, how it was done, and the results. It should not exceed 200 words and should be the last part written (although it should still appear right after the title page).
- Introduction – This section should include background information on water quality and an overview of why the experiment was conducted. It should first contain background information of similar studies previously conducted. This is accomplished by citing existing literature from similar experiments. Secondly, it should provide an objective or a reason why the experiment is being done. Why do we want to know the answer to the question we are asking? Finally, it should end with all three hypotheses from your Week Two experiments. These hypotheses should not be adjusted to reflect the “right” answer. Simply place your previous hypotheses in the report here. You do not lose points for an inaccurate hypothesis; scientists often revise their hypotheses based on scientific evidence following the experiments.
- Materials and Methods – This section should provide a detailed description of the materials used in your experiment and how they were used. A step-by-step rundown of your experiment is necessary; however, it should be done in paragraph form, not in a list format. The description should be exact enough to allow for someone reading the report to replicate the experiment, however, it should be in your own words and not simply copied and pasted from the lab manual.
- Results – This section should include the data and observations from the experiment. All tables and graphs should be present in this section. In addition to the tables, you must describe the data in text; however, there should be no personal opinions or discussion outside of the results located within this area.
- Discussion – This section should interpret your data and provide conclusions. Discuss the meanings of your findings in this area. Was your hypothesis accepted or rejected, and how are you able to determine this? Did the results generate any future questions that might benefit from a new experiment? Were there any outside factors (i.e., temperature, contaminants, time of day) that affected your results? If so, how could you control for these in the future?
- Conclusions – This section should provide a brief summary of your work.
- References – List references used in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination
Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.) Beaker Observations 1 The water clear with no odor 2 The oil floated to top cloudy no odor 3 The water smelled like vinegar/ little cloudy 4 Soap bubbles formed and remained at the top, no odor 5 The water is brownish with a light dirty smell 6 The water was brownish with some soil at the bottom with a little oil 7 The water was a little brown vinegar smell with a little particles at the bottom 8 The water was brownish with more particles than #5,6, and 7 no smell and cloudy POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop hypotheses on the ability of oil, vinegar, and laundry detergent to contaminate groundwater.
a. Oil hypothesis = Oil will not contaminate but possibly the amount of water filtered may change
b. Vinegar hypothesis = Vinegar will contaminate and would allow the soil to filter
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis = The water would pass through but will be contaminated with soap bubbles.
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 = Oil would be trapped in the soil / Accept
b. Vinegar hypothesis accept/reject = Vinegar would pass through the soil / Accept
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis accept/reject = Laundry detergent would contaminate the water / Reject
3. 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?
Answer = It seem all contaminants had effects on the water with vinegar seeming to have the most potent effect and you could identify it by the smell and the detergent had not odor and a little cloudy. The oil seems as though it will leave the water with less contamination.
4. Using at least 1 scholarly source, discuss what type of affects these contaminants (oil, vinegar, detergent) might have on a town’s water source and the people who drank the water?
Answer = Contaminants could cause potential health problems such as hepatitis, cholera and affect infants with the blue baby syndrome.
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 = Contaminates like motor oil, gas from human activity and household contaminates would be from cooking oil, house hold cleaning products, battery acid, jewelry cleaner and paint.
Experiment 2: Water Treatment
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis on the ability of your filtration technique to remove contaminants.
Hypothesis = Coagulants and alkalinity will remove most of groundwater contaminants. For example the funnel filled with the activated charcoal, sand and gravel seemed to produce clean water.
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 = Accept / The coagulants bonding together with small to large particles separated contaminants from the water.
3. What are the differences in color, smell, visibility, etc. between the “contaminated” water and the “treated” water?
Answer = The treated water was clearer with no odor from the contaminants.
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 and describe how they were performed.
Answer = Soil was separated from the water
Allow contents time to separate
Rocks would separate large particles from water
Sand and charcoal would separate smaller particles from the water
Use chemicals to decontaminate the water
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 500 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 5 120 0.2 50 Dasani® Bottled Water 3 40 0 0 Fiji® Bottled Water 6 180 0 0 Table 5: Phosphate Test Results Water Sample Test Results Tap Water 10 ppm Dasani® Bottled Water 25 ppm Fiji® Bottled Water 50 ppm Table 6: Iron Test Results Water Sample Test Results Tap Water 0.10 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 contaminants.
Hypothesis = Tap water would have the most contaminates due to its travel through different pipes. Dasani water would have the least contaminates being that it’s treated and Fiji water comes from a natural spring.
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 would not accept or reject as Fiji and tap water has contaminants with Dasani being the purest.
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what major differences, if any, do you notice between the Dasani, Fiji, and tap water?
Answer = Not a big difference as all water is treated except water from a natural spring. Although, it seems that Dasani would be the cleanest and you would think that Fiji water would be the purest as it is from a natural spring and I personally like spring water or purified.
4. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Why or why not?
Answer = Yes, I believe that bottled water is worth the price as the water in my area would come from the Chattahoochee river and no matter how much its treated the taste is horrible.
References
*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.
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