Attached are three documents. Directions for the assignment, my week 2 lab results where the information can be pulled for the assignment, and Lab descriptions. Please let me know if you have any questions.
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 = Given three water sources; tap, Dasani, and Fiji, I believe Tap water will contain the most contaminants, followed by Dasani, and Fiji to contain the least number of contaminants.
I believe tap water will contain the most contaminants. After the five step water treatment process, contaminants are still present, just not as high. I don’t know the treatment process that Dasani or Fiji go through. Another base that helped me create my hypothesis is the price of Fiji compared to Dasani. Fiji water in my opinion is very expensive, more expensive than Dasani at my local market. After the conclusion of this experiment it might prove why Fiji water is more expensive than Dasani.
Table 1: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water No noticeable change- 0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water No noticeable change- 0mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water No noticeable change- 0mg/L
Table 2: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water No noticeable change- 0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water No noticeable change- 0mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water No noticeable change- 0mg/L
Table 3: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample Total Alkalinity
(mg/L) Total Chlorine
(mg/L) Total Hardness
(mg/L)
Tap Water 4.0 mg/L 40 mg/L 50 mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water 0 mg/L 40 mg/L 0 mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water 4.0 mg/L 0 mg/L 50 mg/L
Table 4: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample Test Results (ppm)
Tap Water 0 ppm
Dasani® Bottled Water 0 ppm
Fiji® Bottled Water 10 ppm
Table 5: Iron Test Results
Water Sample Test Results (ppm)
Tap Water 0.15 ppm
Dasani® Bottled Water 0 ppm
Fiji® Bottled Water 0 ppm
Table 6: pH Results
Water Sample Test Results
Tap Water 7
Dasani® Bottled Water 3
Fiji® Bottled Water 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 = Based on the results of the experiment, I would reject the hypothesis I produced.
According to the results of the experiment, tap water did yield the most amount of contaminants and Fiji water followed in second. Much to my surprise, Dasani had the least number of contaminants. Which is all correct if I tested each water sample correctly.
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 of my experiment differences were only noticed on four of the six experiments. All three samples posed a contaminant sooner or later in the experiment. This made me think even though the water came from a bottle doesn’t mean it is better for us.
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 =
There was an acute amount of Iron present 0.15 ppm in the tap water sample. Based on our text this amount is nothing to worry about because Iron is essential to human nutrition. The World Health Organization tells us, “the average lethal dose of iron is 200-250 mg/kg of body weight, but death has occurred following the ingestion of doses as low as 40 mg/kg of body weight.” (Iron in Drinking-water, 2008, para. 20)
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the results of my experiment tap and Fiji water fall under the recommended pH levels of 6.5-8. Dasani does pose a health concern that may contain metals and can be acidic (Wellcare, n.d.).
Based on the results of the test, Fiji did have phosphate present reflecting 10 ppm. Digestive problems could occur if extremely high levels of phosphate are present in water (Phosphorus Amounts, n.d.).
5. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Use evidence from the lab to support your opinion.
Answer = Yes, I believe bottle water is worth the price. However, we as a human race need to understand if the water cost more it does not mean it is healthy for us. In my life, I find that bottle water is more convenient. I keep a case of water in my car so I can have water at hand when I need it or when I get thirsty.
References
Phosphate
http://osse.ssec.wisc.edu/curriculum/earth/Minifact2_Phosphorus.pdf
Iron
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/iron.pdf
pH https://www.watersystemscouncil.org/download/wellcare_information_sheets/potential_groundwater_contaminant_information_sheets/9709284pH_Update_September_2007.pdf
SCI 207: Our Dependence upon the Environment
*This template will provide you with the details necessary to begin a quality Final Lab Report. Utilize this template to complete the Final Lab Report and ensure that you are providing all of the necessary information and proper format for the assignment. Before you begin, please note the following important information:
1. Carefully review the Final Lab Report instructions before you begin this assignment.
2. The Final Lab Report should cover only the first experiment (Drinking Water Quality) from your Week Two Lab.
3. As you plan your final paper, think about how you can present a fact-based story about water quality issues. For example, consider what common concerns might be regarding water quality, and the role drinking water standards play in protecting our water supplies.
4. For further help, see the Sample Final Lab Report for an example of a final product on a different topic.
5. You may simply replace the text following the bold terms with the appropriate outline information to complete this assignment. Make sure to pay close attention to the information called for and provide all necessary material.
Introduction
Body Paragraph #1 – Background: The introduction should describe the background of water quality and related issues using cited examples. You should include scholarly sources in this section to help explain why water quality research is important to society. When outlining this section, make sure to at least list relevant resources in APA format that will be used in the final paper to develop the background for your experiment.
Body Paragraph # 2 – Objective: The introduction should also contain the objective for your study. This objective is the reason why the experiment is being done. You should provide an objective that describes why we want to know the answer to the questions we are asking. Make sure the objective ties back to ideas you discussed in the Background, above.
Body Paragraph # 3 – Hypothesis: Finally, the introduction should end with your hypothesis. This hypothesis should be the same one that you posed before you began your Drinking Water Quality experiment. You may reword it following feedback from your instructor to put it in better hypothesis format; however, you should not adjust it to reflect the “right” answer. You will not lose points if your hypothesis was wrong; scientists often revise their hypotheses based on scientific evidence following an experiment. In addition to stating the hypothesis, offer your rationale for it; in other words, why did you make that particular hypothesis?
Materials and Methods
Body Paragraph # 1: The materials and methods section should provide a brief description of the specialized materials used in your experiment and how they were used. This section needs to summarize the instructions with enough detail so that an outsider who does not have a copy of the lab instructions knows what you did. However, this does not mean writing every little step like “dip the phosphate test strip in the water, then shake the test strips,” these steps can be simplified to read “we used phosphate test strips to measure phosphate levels in parts per million”, etc. This section should be written in the past tense and in your own words and not copied and pasted from the lab manual. Think cookbook recipe here; you should explain enough of what you did for others to repeat the experiment, but with nothing extra added.
Results
Tables: The results section should include all the tables used in your experiment. All values within the tables should be in numerical form and contain units (except pH, which does not have any). For instance, if measuring the amount of chloride in water you should report your measurement as 2 mg/L or 0 mg/L, not as two or none.
Body Paragraph # 1: The results section should also highlight important results in paragraph form, referring to the appropriate tables when mentioned. This section should only state the results; no personal opinions should be included. A description of what the results really mean should be saved for the discussion. For example, you may report, 0mg/L of chlorine were found in the water, but should avoid personal opinions and interpretations such as, “No chlorine was found in the water, showing it to be cleaner than the other samples.”
Discussion
Body Paragraph #1 – Hypothesis: This section should interpret your data and provide conclusions. Start by discussing if your hypothesis was confirmed or denied and how you know this. Then consider some of the implications of your results. Given the chemical differences you may have noted between the water samples, are any of the differences causes for concern?
Body Paragraph # 2 – Context: The discussion should also relate your results to bigger water concerns and challenges. For example, based on your experiment you might discuss how various bottled water companies use different filtration systems. Or, you could discuss the billion dollar bottled water industry. For example, do you think it is worth it to buy bottled water? Why or why not? Your outline should at least list some of the resources that you plan to utilize in your final paper to put your results into context.
Body Paragraph #3 – Variables and Future Experiments: Finally, your results section should also address any possible factors that affected your results, such as taking measurements over two different days instead of all at once. If possible sources of error were present, how might you control for these in the future? You should also propose some new questions that have arisen from your results and what kind of experiment(s) might be devised to answer these questions.
Conclusions
Body Paragraph #1: This section should briefly summarize the key points of your paper. What main message would you like people to take way from this report?
References
Include at least 2 scholarly and 2 highly credible sources as well as your lab manual, in APA format.