This document summarizes the results of three experiments on water quality and contamination from an online science lab. In Experiment 1, different water samples were observed for characteristics like color and smell after contamination with substances like oil, vinegar, and detergent. Vinegar appeared to have the most potent effect. Experiment 2 tested a water filtration technique using materials like charcoal and sand. The hypothesis that various coagulants could remove contaminants was accepted. Experiment 3 compared tap water to Dasani and Fiji bottled waters using tests for substances like ammonia, chloride, and iron. The results were not entirely clear, but Dasani appeared to have the fewest contaminants overall.

1. Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination
Table 1: Water Observations (Smell, Color, Etc.)
Beaker Observations
1 Water is perfectly clear/No odor
2 Cloudy/oil sits top of water/no odor
3
Slight odor/almost unidentifiable other then
smell/good clarity
4
Slightly cloudy/bubbles form on surface/no
odor
5 Water is brown in color/some sediment/no odor
6
Water is brown in color/some sediment/no
odor/still a presence of oil/very cloudy/oil
collected in soil
7
Water is brown in color/cloudy/some
sediment/strong odor
8
Water is dark brown/soap bubbles in soil/light
brown film on top of water
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop hypotheses on the ability of oil, vinegar, and laundry
detergent to contaminate
groundwater.
© eScience Labs, 2013 - 1 -
[no notes on this page]a. Oil hypothesis = Oil will not
contaminate or change the amount of water filter.
b. Vinegar hypothesis = Vinegar will contaminate through the
soil allowing the water to
filer through.
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis = Laundry detergent will
contaminate the soil by

2. allowing the water to pass through.
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// Oil is trapped in the
soil.
b. Vinegar hypothesis accept/reject = Accept// Vinegar passed
through the soil, because
it changed the velocity of the water.
c. Laundry detergent hypothesis accept/reject = Reject//
Laundry detergent also changed
the viscosity of the water.
3. What affects did each of the contaminants have on the water
in the experiment? Which
contaminant seemed to have the most potent effect on the
water?
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[no notes on this page]Answer = from what I observed, oil is
saturated into the soil leaving little to none of the
water to pass through. While the vinegar passed through the soil
leaving more dirty water.
Based on what I think, vinegar is saturated and a natural
substance while oil is a manmade
product and a much thicker substance. Oil absorbed the soil
leaving the water less
contaminated. My conclusion, vinegar was the more potent
liquid.
Using at least 1 scholarly source, discuss what type of affects
these contaminants (oil,
vinegar, detergent) might have on a town’s water source and the
people who drank the
water?
Answer = According to Wisconsin Natural Resource, “Everyday
activities can affect
groundwater quality. Think about the ways you use water at

3. home. If you've always
considered pure, clean water to be a cheap, unlimited resource,
chances are you're
accustomed to wasting water and haven't been concerned about
what you pour down the
drain (DNR.WI.GOV, 1999).” We don’t realize how much
toxins is released into the water
if we’re not careful on the proper disposal of oil, laundry
detergent. One way to destroy our
water supply is adding unnecessary chemicals into our water
supply and by doing this; we
have added an unbalance into our water supply causing us to
suffer and not to mention other
animals that rely on the fresh water. I can only say that I do
enjoy drinking fresh bottle
water. Drinking unclean clean water is hazardous to our health.
Water can carry an
abundance of unknown bacteria that the eye can’t detect. Of
course, drinking polluted water
can make the whole town sick and may cause severe unknown
sickness that the human body
cannot fight.
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[no notes on this page]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 = Oils can be spilt pretty easily when doing any type of
work to motorized vehicles, I think acid
would come from pollution and distributed into the ground
during a rainfall, and detergents could possibly get
to the water source by sewage from people as well as runoff
from farmers fields.

4. © eScience Labs, 2013 - 4 -
[no notes on this page]Experiment 2: Water Treatment
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis on the ability of your filtration
technique to remove contaminants.
Hypothesis = Using different coagulants coupled with materials
with different alkalinity can
remove most groundwater contaminants.
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or
accept the hypothesis that
you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
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[no notes on this page]Accept/Reject = Accept// the coagulants
bonded to the larger particles and separated the water
from the contaminants. The bleach further decontaminant the
water by changing the alkalinity of
the water.
3. What are the differences in color, smell, visibility, etc.
between the “contaminated”
water and the “treated” water?
Answer = the treated water is mostly clearly, without no odor
from the contaminants.
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 and describe how they were performed.
Answer =
Step1: Cause the soil to separate from the water
Step2: Use the time to allow contents to separate
Step3: Use the rocks to separate large particles from the water
Step4: Use charcoal / sand to filter smaller particles from the
water
Step5: Use the caustic chemicals to decontaminate the water
Experiment 3: Drinking Water Quality

5. © eScience Labs, 2013 - 6 -
[no notes on this page]Table 2: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
0
Dasani® Bottled Water
0
Fiji® Bottled Water
0
Table 3: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample Test Results
Tap Water 500
Dasani® Bottled Water 0
Fiji® Bottled Water 0
Table 4: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample pH Total Alkalinity Total Chlorine Total
Hardness
Tap Water 6 120 1.0 0
Dasani® Bottled Water 2 0 1.0 0
Fiji® Bottled Water 8 0 4.0 50
Table 5: Phosphate Test Results
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1
1. Need to attach units to all
your values. [Alisha
Etheredge]Water Sample Test Results
Tap Water
50
Dasani® Bottled Water
10
Fiji® Bottled Water
100
Table 6: Iron Test Results
Water Sample Test Results
Tap Water 0.15

6. Dasani® Bottled Water 0
Fiji® Bottled Water 0
POST LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis on which water source you believe will
contain the most and least
contaminants.
Hypothesis = the tap water will contain the most contaminants
because it is traveling through
pipers in unknown condition, whereas, the bottle water is in a
sterile, controlled
environment. The Dasani water is treated whereas Fiji comes
from natural springs.
Therefore, Dasani will have the least contaminants.
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[no notes on this page]2. Based on the results of your
experiment, would you reject or accept the hypothesis that
you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
Accept/reject = I would neither accept or a reject. My result was
not conclusive based on the
tap water and Fiji. Both of the water had a higher contaminants
but not a clear, which is
higher in contaminants. Apparently, the Dasani was the purest.
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what major
differences, if any, do you notice
between the Dasani, Fiji, and tap water?
Answer = Overall, Dasani is the closest to pure water. None that
I can see physically, that I
would not notice but by the taste of the water is my only
experience. I was taken back. I
thought the more natural the water the better the tasted would
be.
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[no notes on this page]4. Based on your results, do you believe
that bottled water is worth the price? Why or
why not?
Answer = Yes, I believe bottled water is worth 100% of my

7. money, just because of the simple
fact that is processed on a controlled environment and I would
not have to tack a chance in
worrying about peoples carless acts of contaminating our water
sours.
*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 you must plant the seeds this week to ensure that
you can complete week 3 on
time.
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[no notes on this page]References
Bensel, J. T. (2011). Contemporary Environmental Issues, San
Diego: Bridgepoint Education
Inc.
http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/html/supps/1999/aug99/drink.htm
© eScience Labs, 2013 - 11 -
[no notes on this page]