Introduction
The need of safe and contamination free water are a fundamental human need. Unfortunately, man-made activities has severely contaminated the drinking water sources (Bashir et al., 2013; 2015). The consumption of water having chemical and other pollutants is the cause of spreading disease. For instance, an excessive amount of ammonia can develop blue baby disease among the infants by converting into nitrate and nitrites. Moreover, excessive use of fertilizers to meet the growing needs of populace also contributing in water contamination along with inadequate sanitary systems and industrial discharge into fresh body reservoirs (Katal et al., 2012). According to Xu et al. (2010), the presence of phosphate in drinking water sources needs concerted efforts for its removal due to the threats posed by it. The chlorides can develop gastrointestinal issues and excessive amount of phosphate, iron, and other metals as well as salts is not good for health. The color and odor are also essential to sustain the aesthetic appearance and make it acceptable by the consumers.
Oil and oil spills in water may have potential to contaminate the water because of hydrocarbons. It is hard to decompose the aromatic rings introduced by the oil and consequently it may pollute soil and, surface and groundwater. Moreover, the presence of amines and amides can react with water making it carcinogenic with slow reaction of these compounds (Ordinioha & Brisibe, 2013). On the other hand, vinegar is a weak acid that have no particular ill effect on the human health. The detergent contain many inorganic compounds such as bleach and builders. The chemistry of builders and bleach is complex and it contain water sodium carbonate, sodium triphosphate, pigments, metals and so forth. These contents can pollute water bodies and hence, these contaminants are neither good for the environment not for human health. Conclusively, the traces of these metals can create carcinogenetic and infertility.
I formulated the hypothesis in the experiment#1 that the oily layer is left on the water surface that will contaminate the water by the oil by changing in the texture. On account of vinegar, the contaminated groundwater will be use having the odor of vinegar and I believe that it may make foul odor. The similar application will be repeated for the detergent as it leaves chemical substance and foamy deposits on the water and I believe that water will change in color. In experiment 2 , I develop hypothesis that I will be able to remove all contaminants by using the filtration technique and make the water drinkable.The experiment# 3 is based on the hypothesis that the most contaminated water would be the normal tap water, and the minimum contaminated is the Fiji.
Results
Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination
Experiment 3: Drinking Water Quality
The obtained results are tabulated show high level of contamination in the tap water compared to bottled water. The results obtained by test strips show a remarkable difference in the quality of water obtained from the tap water, Dasani and Fiji water. The ammonia and chloride, content in all three samples is observed as zero (Table 2 and 3). Table 4 presenting the, pH, total alkalinity, total chloride and total hardness. It shows that pH value of tap water is almost zero and Fiji water possess pH value of 7. On other hand, total alkalinity, total chlorine and total hardness is found 0.2,40 and zero in tape water. The respective content in Dasani and Fiji bottles water were zero, zero and 50 respectively in the respective samples. Moreover these contents were as high as 4, 40 and 120 respectively. Table 5 shows the phosphorous content having value 50, 25 and 100 in tap water, Dasani and Fiji bottled water. Finaly, iron result are presented in table 6 which show zero level in all respective samples.
Material and Methodology
The different sorts of groundwater contaminants were inspected in the first experiment. The main apparatus or glassware required in this examination were beakers, graduated cylinder having capacity 100ml, cheesecloth, funnel, and wooden stick, etc. These measuring glasswares (beakers) were labeled from 1 to 8. The graduated cylinder was utilized to fill the initial 4 beakers containing 100 ml of water while rest of the beakers were kept isolated. The complete observations were made in the first beaker over the span of the investigation, and the outcome acquired were recorded. The second beaker were filled with 10ml of vegetable oil and blended. The same procedure was repeated for beaker 3 and 4, but this time, vinegar and clothing detergent were examined separately in both respective beakers. The 4 pieces of cheesecloth were placed in four layers to fit four funnels followed by addition of 10ml of soil. The substance contained in beakers (1-4) was transferred to the beakers in the sequence of 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively. The results and findings were recorded in a table.
The basic objective of the experiment #2 was to examine the viability of water treatment systems. The glassware and apparatus included here incorporate beakers (capacity 100 and 250 ml), wooden stick, cheesecloth etc.100ml of soil was filled in the beaker and filled by the water. The solution was poured to other beaker and repeatedly exchanged between the respective beakers for 15 times. 10ml of the polluted solution was added to 100ml capacity beaker. This is kept separate for examination with the filtered water at the end of the test. The primary substance included was 10ml of alum that consistently blended for around 2 minutes and afterward permitted to rest for 15 minutes. Activated carbon, gravels, and sand were set on the cheesecloth, and clean water was poured through it followed by passing of polluted water through it and then the addition of bleach was made to the filtrate. All observations were made including the odor against standard shading outline and contrasted with an impure solution.
Discussion
Based on results obtained in the experiment 1, I accepted the hypothesis formulated for the oil because the oil did change the texture of the water. The oil made the water bubble up and have a greasy odor. I also accepted the hypothesis regarding vinegar because it made the water have a foul odor when added to the water. Moreover, I accepted that detergent can pollute the water by making green color and had a fresh smell to it. Based on finding regarding experiment 2, I rejected the hypothesis because this water was not drinkable. The filtration technique used helped turn the dirty water clearer, but when the bleach solution was added it became undrinkable. In the context of experiment 3, I rejected the formulated hypothesis because I found that the Fiji bottled water had higher levels of PH, Chlorine, and total hardness, than the tap water. Also the Fiji bottled water had an higher phosphate level compared to the other water samples. Outside of having the same total alkalinity level as the Dasani water, the tap water graded out better overall than its counterparts. The phosphate content was the highest in the Fiji bottled water, followed by Dasani bottled water, and the least amount would be tap water
References
Bashir, M., Salmiaton, A., Nourouzi, M., Azni, I., & Harun, R. (2015). Fluoride Removal by Chemical Modification of Palm Kernel Shell-Based Adsorbent: A Novel Agricultural Waste Utilization Approach. Asian Jr. Of Microbiol. Biotech. Env. Sc, 17(3), 533-542.
Bashir, M., Salmiaton, A., Bashir,A. (2013). Health Effects from Exposure to Sulphates and Chlorides in Drinking Water, Pakistan Journal Of Medical And Health Sciences, 6(3):648-652
Katal, R., Baei, M., Rahmati, H., & Esfandian, H. (2012). Kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic study of nitrate adsorption from aqueous solution using modified rice husk. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 18(1), 295-302.
Ordinioha, B., & Brisibe, S. (2013). The human health implications of crude oil spills in the Niger delta, Nigeria: An interpretation of published studies. Nigerian Medical Journal, 54(1), 10.
Xu, X., Gao, B., Yue, Q., & Zhong, Q. (2010). Preparation of agricultural by-product based anion exchanger and its utilization for nitrate and phosphate removal. Bioresource Technology, 101(22), 8558-8564.
