Tap Water Lab Report

Purpose The purpose of this project is to determine whether river water or lake water is cleanest as it relates to tap water. The independent variables being tested in this experiment are the different waters being tested which are river water, lake water, and tap water, which is the control. The dependant variable is which of the three waters are the cleanest as it relates to unfiltered tap water. The purpose of this experiment is to determine what the different aspects of the three types of waters are and how that relates to cleanliness. The results will give information as to how healthy the water is and what should be improved upon for each of the water sources. The Chicago River water and Lake Michigan’s water have a great chance of being contaminated by pollutants from the city and industrial uses along the river and lake such as years of being the meat packing center of America. Dead animals carcuses and other industrial byproducts were often disposed of in the Chicago River by meatpacking warehouses. (Lewis, 2008). With this experiment, information will be gathered about how clean these waters really are by testing pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, coliform bacteria, and turbidity, which are the key components of water quality. This will
Between the lake and river water, the lake’s water is healthier than the river, with the lake being average and the river being fair. Also, the river being positive for fecal coliform very negatively affects how clean it is. Fecal coliform can contribute to many common, but also some very serious illnesses such as cholera (Jolley, 2015). The river was most likely the least clean because in the past it has been a sort of dumping grounds for many factories along the riverbanks. While the lake is still not as healthy as it could be due to chemicals from surrounding cities, it is much healthier than the