Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.) Beaker Observations 1 Typical tap water, no odor, clear 2 the oil is poured into the water, it bubbles up at the top. When stirred, the bubbles became smallAser and the oil formed a layer at the top of the water 3 After pouring the vinegar in the water, it looked cloudy. The smell of vinegar was strong and small bubbles visible 4 After pouring the detergent in the water, it became quite cloudy looking like soapy green water, and there were tiny bubbles. 5 The water turned a light to medium brown color with small parts of the soil on top of the water. Smells like potting soil. 6 The water and oil mixture had a clean look to it as it was more of a light brown color. 7 The water and vinegar had an extremely light brown look, much cleaner than the other samples 8 The water and detergent had a light to medium brown look, and looked cloudy. POST LAB QUESTIONS 1. Develop hypotheses on the ability of oil, vinegar, and laundry detergent to contaminate groundwater. a. Oil hypothesis = If added to water the oil slightly contaminates the water making a film on the top. b. Vinegar hypothesis = If added in water, the vinegar contaminated it and produces a smell and aa cloudy look to it. c. Laundry detergent hypothesis = If added to water the detergent contaminates the water making it a green color and small 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 = Accept The experiment proved the results and confirmed the hypothesis b. Vinegar hypothesis accept/reject = Accept The experiment proved itself in the results which also confirmed the hypothesis c. Laundry detergent hypothesis accept/reject = Accept The experiment proved its correct and confirmed the hypothesis 3. What effect 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 = The results of the contaminants were a brownish color tint to each of water samples. I believe that the soil and water mixture had the most potent effects visually, while the vinegar had a very irritating and smelly odor. 4. Using at least one scholarly source; discuss the potential effect of each contaminant (oil, vinegar, and detergent) on the town’s water source and the people who drank the water. Answer = Approximately 99 percent of all liquid fresh water is in underground aquifers, and at least a quarter of the world's population draws its water from these groundwater supplies. More than three quarters of underground water is nonrenewable, meaning it has a replenishment period of centuries or more (Turk & Bensel 2011). My take on this is that we need to protect our ground water at all cost. It is crucial to our survival to keep a ...

1. Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination
Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.)
Beaker
Observations
1
Typical tap water, no odor, clear
2
the oil is poured into the water, it bubbles up at the top. When
stirred, the bubbles became smallAser and the oil formed a layer
at the top of the water
3
After pouring the vinegar in the water, it looked cloudy. The
smell of vinegar was strong and small bubbles visible
4
After pouring the detergent in the water, it became quite cloudy
looking like soapy green water, and there were tiny bubbles.
5
The water turned a light to medium brown color with small
parts of the soil on top of the water. Smells like potting soil.
6
The water and oil mixture had a clean look to it as it was more
of a light brown color.
7
The water and vinegar had an extremely light brown look, much
cleaner than the other samples
8
The water and detergent had a light to medium brown look, and
looked cloudy.

2. POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop hypotheses on the ability of oil, vinegar, and laundry
detergent to contaminate groundwater.
a. Oil hypothesis = If added to water the oil slightly
contaminates the water making a film on the top.
b. Vinegar hypothesis = If added in water, the vinegar
contaminated it and produces a smell and aa cloudy look to it.
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis = If added to water the
detergent contaminates the water making it a green color and
small 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 = Accept The experiment proved
the results and confirmed the hypothesis
b. Vinegar hypothesis accept/reject = Accept The experiment
proved itself in the results which also confirmed the hypothesis
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis accept/reject = Accept The
experiment proved its correct and confirmed the hypothesis
3. What effect 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 = The results of the contaminants were a brownish color
tint to each of water samples. I believe that the soil and water
mixture had the most potent effects visually, while the vinegar
had a very irritating and smelly odor.
4. Using at least one scholarly source; discuss the potential

3. effect of each contaminant (oil, vinegar, and detergent) on the
town’s water source and the people who drank the water.
Answer = Approximately 99 percent of all liquid fresh water is
in underground aquifers, and at least a quarter of the world's
population draws its water from these groundwater supplies.
More than three quarters of underground water is nonrenewable,
meaning it has a replenishment period of centuries or more
(Turk & Bensel 2011). My take on this is that we need to
protect our ground water at all cost. It is crucial to our survival
to keep any type of pollutants out of our ground water.
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 = When companies do off shore drilling for oil or
transporting oil risk for oil spills rise. Dumping of hazardous
waste sometimes leaks into the water we consume thus polluting
it and making it a hazard to consume.. Items in my house that
could poison our water supply if dumped on the ground would
be dish soap, bleach,oil additives, paint, bug sprays and
batteries.
Experiment 2: Water Treatment
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis on the ability of your filtration
technique to remove contaminants.
Hypothesis = If the dirty water is treated and filtered, then it
will be safe to drink.
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or
accept the hypothesis that you produced in question 1? Explain

4. how you determined this.
Accept/Reject = Reject-The filtered samples although
considerably cleaner than before filtration still appear cloudy
and just look “dirty,” and therefore fails because it does not
look drinkable.
3. What are the differences in color, smell, visibility, and so
forth between the “contaminated” water and the “treated”
water?
Answer = The contrasts between the treated and untreated
water is that the treated water seems much clearer than the
messy water; it's presentation is significantly more like standard
unpolluted water, yet at the same time looks somewhat dirty.
The tainted examples look chestnut and smell of potting soil.
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. Additionally describe how each of the processes were
performed in this lab.
5. Answer = We have standard water that is spotless, I then
polluted the water. Upon tainting, chemicals were added and
offered time to respond with the perfect water. A channel is
made to clean the water. Alum is added to the dirty specimens
as the bigger particles are attached to this compound. The
specimens are then put through a filtration procedure of sand,
charcoal, and gravel cleaning the water of smaller particles and
impurities. Bleach is then added to clean water from any
remaining pollutants and any remaining toxins..
Experiment 3: Drinking Water Quality
Table 2: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
0

5. Dasani® Bottled Water
0
Fiji® Bottled Water
0
Table 3: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
0
Dasani® Bottled Water
500
Fiji® Bottled Water
500
Table 4: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample
pH
Total Alkalinity
Total Chlorine
Total Hardness
Tap Water
7
40
4.0
Dasani® Bottled Water
3
80
2
Fiji® Bottled Water
8
40

6. 10.0
Table 5: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
25
Dasani® Bottled Water
10
Fiji® Bottled Water
100
Table 6: Iron Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
0.3
Dasani® Bottled Water
0
Fiji® Bottled Water
0.25
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis on which water source you believe will
contain the most and least chemical components.
Hypothesis = If test were conducted on Fiji and Dasani water,
then the results would conclude that the Fiji was the cleanest,
and the tap water would have the most impurities.
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or
accept the hypothesis that you produced in question 1? Explain

7. how you determined this.
Accept/reject = Reject-After testing all three types of water
(tap, Dasani, & Fiji), the tap proved to have the least impurities,
whereas the Fiji water turned out to have the most!
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what major
differences, if any, do you notice between the Dasani, Fiji, and
tap water?
Answer = The major differences between the three types of
water would include their PH levels. Dasani has the lowest
between the three, and the tap and Fiji had higher PH levels.
Also, Dasani has the lowest chlorine, while tap was a touch
higher, and Fiji had the highest level. The tap water turned out
to be the “softest” water, while Dasani and Fiji were considered
“harder” water at a 50 level. Phosphate levels were highest in
the Fiji water at 100. After completing all tests involving the
three types of water, the tap water was revealed to be the
cleanest drinking water out of the three, while the higher priced
bottles of water were full of all kinds of extras the body does
not need!
4. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is
worth the price? Why or why not?
Answer = NO!!!! Tap water proves to be a healthier option
with less chemicals and significantly lower in price than bottled
water. By buying bottled water, the individual is just wasting
money and contributing to more pollution on the planet .
*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

8. you must plant the seeds this week to ensure that you can
complete week 3 on time.
References
.Turk, J. & Bensel, T. (2011). Contemporary Environmental
Issues, Bridgepoint Education, San Diego, CA
© eScience Labs, 2015