Water Quality and Contamination

Water Quality and Contamination

Title

Abstract

The focus of this experiment was to examine the physical changes of contaminated water, learn ways to filter the water back to a healthy state, and then to finally understand the different tests used to determine a clean water sample. The contaminated water was examined by polluting three water samples with vinegar, vegetable oil, and laundry detergent, and then noticing the difference after pollution and then again when it was run through the filter. A sample of muddy water was also constructed and ran through a filter made out of sand, charcoal, and gravel, it was then noticed that the water was back to its normal state. Finally three different clean water samples were used to complete multiple tests to determine which sample was most healthiest, resulting in most tests being relatively the same, whether tap water or bottled.

Introduction

In this experiment the examination of contaminated water is studied and the quality of clean water is measured. Water quality can be proven to be a very important feature to maintain in the environment. The quality of water is depended upon every living organism on this planet. There are many activities that humans partake in that pollute our waters here on earth. By committing these pollutant acts can be very dangerous to our health and lives. A major health concern from the consumption of water is cancer. In China there has been an increase in cancer rates among the population due to the dumping of untreated wastewater in high populated areas (Ebenstein, 2012). Sea life is also heavily effected by contaminated water. Pollution obtained from agriculture and urban runoff, atmospheric deposition, and runoff from forests and mines, also known as nonpoint pollution, causes a deficiency of oxygen in deeper waters killing and harming fish and sea life (Fisher, 2013). Everybody needs water to survive and it is important for that water to be sanitary.

The main objective to this experiment was to discover how soil can remove contaminated water samples separately polluted with, one with vinegar, one with detergent, and one with vegetable oil. Polluted waters that are comprised with some of these contaminants can cause severe effects to one’s health by making you sick, or there are even some contaminants, like pesticides and minerals, that can have chronic effects. These chemicals can cause liver problems, kidney problems, and even reproduction problems (Parvis, 2001). By examining the effects that different pollutants have on water, and then visualizing how each polluted sample changed through the soil filter gives an understanding of how clean soil can rid the contamination aspects of water. Then lastly, the knowledge of clean water is developed by, testing the quality of tap water verses the quality of two different bottled waters. The purpose of this lab was to learn about the devastating effect of contaminants on water, the importance of clean soil to rid these contaminants, and what the qualities of fresh water are.