SCI207 Water Quality and Contamination

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Water Quality and Contamination

Before you begin this assignment, watch The Scientific Method Presentation (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. video. Then, read “Lab 2: Water Quality and ContaminationView in a new window.” This lab will allow you to perform tests on your own tap water to compare differences in contaminants found in bottled versus tap water. Then, you will utilize this information and your eScience lab kit to complete Experiment 1 on the Week Two Lab Reporting FormView in a new window. Make sure to complete all of the following items before submission:
  1. Read through the introductory material and watch The Scientific Method Presentation (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. video.
  2. Complete Experiment 1: Drinking Water Quality using your eScience lab manual and kit.
  3. Complete Tables 1 through 5 and answer Post Lab Questions 1 through 5 in complete sentences on the Week Two Lab Reporting Form.
  4. Go to “Lab 3: BiodiversityView in a new window,” and complete Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination on Plant Diversity steps 1 through 32, using your eScience lab manual and kit. Complete Table 1 and answer Post Lab Questions 1 through 5 in complete sentences on the Week Three Lab Reporting FormView in a new window. Steps 1 through 32 need to be completed in order to be prepared for Week Three


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Explanation & Answer

HiKindly see attached the completed lab report.Do not worry for the high plagiarism detected by plagscan, since if you go through it you'll see that the detected issues refer to the questions and not the answers ;). In fact, I asked plagscan to remove those sections and it went down to 1.2% so that your answer remains original :)

Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Drinking Water Quality
Bottled water is a billion dollar industry in the United States. Still, few people know the health
benefits, if any, that come from drinking bottled water as opposed to tap water. This experiment
will look at the levels of a variety of different chemical compounds in both tap and bottled water
to determine if there are health benefits in drinking bottled water.
POST-LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis regarding which water sources you believe will contain the most
and least contaminants, and state why you believe this. Be sure to clearly rank all three
sources from most to least contaminants.
Hypothesis = I expect that tap water will present the highest concentration of the different
pollutants, while bottled water is of higher quality since it is obtained from water springs and
its quality is controlled by the bottling company. Between Dasani and Fiji bottled water, I
expect Dasani to be the one having the lowest contaminants considering that it is advertised as
a purified water, while Fiji bottled water is advertised as not having been purified.

© eScience Labs, 2016

Table 1: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample

Test Results (mg/L)

Tap Water

0

Dasani® Bottled Water

0

Fiji® Bottled Water

0

Table 2: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample

Test Results (mg/L)

Tap Water

0

Dasani® Bottled Water

0

Fiji® Bottled Water

0

Table 3: 4 in 1 Test Results
Total Alkalinity

Total Chlorine

Total Hardness

(mg/L)

(mg/L)

(mg/L)

Tap Water

80

1.0

250

Dasani® Bottled
Water

0

0

120

Fiji® Bottled Water

40

0

50

Water Sample

© eScience Labs, 2016

Table 4: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample

Test Results (ppm)

Tap Water

100

Dasani® Bottled Water

10

Fiji® Bottled Water

50

Table 5: Iron Test Results
Water Sample

Test Results (ppm)

Tap Water

0.15

Dasani® Bottled Water

0

Fiji® Bottled Water

0

Table 6: pH Results
Water Sample

Test Results

Tap Water

7-8

Dasani® Bottled Water

6-7

Fiji® Bottled Water

6-7

2. Based on the results of your experiment, would accept or reject the hypothesis you
produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
Accept/reject = Accept
I determined this by comparing the differences observed for the concentrations of different
pollutants such as ammonia, chlorine, iron, and phosphate. Additionally, I consider other
measures representative of a high amount of other ions like water hardness and alkalinity.
According to such comparison, the tap water is more polluted than any of the bottled waters.

© eScience Labs, 2016

3. Based on the results of your experiment, what specific differences do you notice among
the Dasani®, Fiji®, and Tap Water?
Answer:
Based on the results obtained from this experiment, tap water is the one having the highest
concentration of pollutants. Hence, it has a higher concentration of pollutants like chlorine,
phosphate and iron. Additionally, it was both harder and more alkaline than bottled water
samples.
On the other hand, compared to Dasani® water, Fiji® water had a higher alkalinity and a higher
concentration of phosphate. In contrast, Dasani® water was slightly harder than Fiji® water.

4. Based upon the fact sheets provided (links at the end of this document), do any of these
samples pose a health concern? Use evidence from the lab to support your answer.
Answer:
The tap water presents a health concern related to the concentration of chlorine I found. In this
regard, long term exposure to chlorinated water has been correlated to a higher risk of bladder
and rectal cancer. For instance, King and Marrett demonstrated that people that had drunk
chlorinated water over the last 35 years had a doubled rate of suffering from bladder cancer
(1996).
Even while none of the other pollutants found in neither tap water or the bottled water samples
present a significant health effect, they might pose other concerns. For instance, the
concentration of phosphate found in the tap water (100 ppm) may lead to eutrophication if the
water has also problems of a high concentration of nitrate. On the other hand, the high harness
obtained for tap water might present a problem as calcium or magnesium deposits form on the
domestic appliances like the washing machine.

© eScience Labs, 2...


Anonymous
Excellent! Definitely coming back for more study materials.

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