1. Water sampling, testing, and statistical application
The workshop given to us by Dr. Arce was about water quality and its importance.
Water quality is measured in many different ways, such as turbidity. The more opaque it is the
more likely it is to find microorganisms residing in the waters. Other ways to determine the
purity of a body of water is by measuring the levels of Phosphorus, Nitrate, and chloroforms
found in them. These substances make their way into these waters through fertilizers, large
plantations, and feces residue. These particles are toxic and harmful to humans, as well as wild
life, and can cause severe changes in ecosystems, drastically altering, and possibly damaging,
them. During this workshop we learned to detect nitrate in water using the colorimeter
technique. Propanol, diethyl, and several buffers were added to the water sample and it was
then placed in the colorimeter. The device would then read the absorbance and the amount of
light emitted, depending on the levels of absorbance we would be able to detect the presence
of nitrate. All sample showed a very low absorbance, which was very odd and unlikely for most
samples. During Dr. Arce’s presentation he also mentioned how forests had great part in
maintaining clean waters. These-and other- techniques can be utilized in order to assert this
statement. These techniques can also be applied in order to study the differences PRASA
waters and non-PRASA waters. Non-PRASA waters are those that are not filtered and processed
by the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, but instead by other local agencies (and
occasionally the communities). Since these waters do not undertake the regular federal
approved purification processes, these techniques could help determine these waters safe.