Nitrate Results Essay
The results for nitrate were inconclusive, there are traces of nitrate in wells 15, 20, 23, and 21 but we couldn’t find the source. We believe that number 15 is the source but there is very little amount of pollutants in the water to make the solution turn black. Wells 15, 20, 23, and 21 when tested for nitrates, the iodine changed to a yellowish blackish color. The hypothesis was not supported, well number 26 did not test positive for any of the pollutants. The first well tested was well number 15 and we believe that we found nitrate around the cattle farm because animal wastes contribute to nitrate contamination of ground water (bfhd.wa.gov).
The source of LUST contaminants in the water was well number 10 located near old gas station. When well 10 was tested for LUST contaminants the immediately changed to white demonstrating that LUST contaminates were positive in that area. The hypothesis was that well 10 was the source for the LUST contaminates and it was supported. The justification why LUST contaminates were found in well 10 is because there was possible leakage from underground tanks from where there used to be a …show more content…
gas station (yosemite.epa.gov).
The source of Arsenic was well number 18, located close to the Mountain Mining Company. The KI changed to yellow when Arsenic was tested for well number 18. The hypothesis was supported, we supposed that it would be found near the mining company because that is where its most likely to find natural elements and arsenic is an element that naturally occurs in rocks and soil used in industry also, arsenic is a main source of mining (water.usgs.gov).
Error Analysis:
I am confident in all of my results and conclusion except for the nitrates because we only found bits of nitrate in multiple places, there was not just a black color during the tests, it was a black/yellow color instead.
Possible errors made during the testing is not cleaning the trays well enough, left over soap from when the trays were being washed, not enough water and not enough solution. We believe there weren’t any outliers, all the wells that tested positive for the pollutants were expected to be positive. I would test well number 9 because nitrates are also carried by the rain and the stream is close to well number 9 so it would probably increase the amount of nitrates in that area. Even then, we believe that well 15 was the source but the source itself had very little amount of nitrates that is why we believe that is was not the
source.
The source of LUST contaminants in the water was well number 10 located near old gas station. When well 10 was tested for LUST contaminants the immediately changed to white demonstrating that LUST contaminates were positive in that area. The hypothesis was that well 10 was the source for the LUST contaminates and it was supported. The justification why LUST contaminates were found in well 10 is because there was possible leakage from underground tanks from where there used to be a …show more content…
gas station (yosemite.epa.gov).
The source of Arsenic was well number 18, located close to the Mountain Mining Company. The KI changed to yellow when Arsenic was tested for well number 18. The hypothesis was supported, we supposed that it would be found near the mining company because that is where its most likely to find natural elements and arsenic is an element that naturally occurs in rocks and soil used in industry also, arsenic is a main source of mining (water.usgs.gov).
Error Analysis:
I am confident in all of my results and conclusion except for the nitrates because we only found bits of nitrate in multiple places, there was not just a black color during the tests, it was a black/yellow color instead.
Possible errors made during the testing is not cleaning the trays well enough, left over soap from when the trays were being washed, not enough water and not enough solution. We believe there weren’t any outliers, all the wells that tested positive for the pollutants were expected to be positive. I would test well number 9 because nitrates are also carried by the rain and the stream is close to well number 9 so it would probably increase the amount of nitrates in that area. Even then, we believe that well 15 was the source but the source itself had very little amount of nitrates that is why we believe that is was not the
source.