Water Quality and Contamination
Introduction
Water is one of the basic needs of living organisms. Without water, life would be impossible. Humanity is dependent on water for their day to day activities. Basically, the foremost use of water is for drinking. Living organisms like humans have to take in water for their bodies to survive and sustain the various cellular activities. Aside from drinking, man use water for cooking, washing, recreation, cleaning, and keeping plants alive.
Water used for drinking needs to be essentially clean. It must be free from germs and chemicals for the good health of man. Contaminated water is one of the major causes of sickness of man that may lead to loss of life. Potable waters for drinking purposes must be treated and must adhere to quality standards to avoid sickness and death not only to humans but to animals as well.
The Earth is composed of 75% of water. However, only a small percentage of the total water sources are composed of fresh water which can be used for drinking purposes. Potable drinking water can come from one of these sources (Australian Government Department of Health):
- Surface water – These are water naturally on the surface of the earth such as in dams and reservoirs. Mostly, these catchments must be away from human population to lessen the chance for water pollution.
- Rivers or Lakes – these are natural bodies of water containing fresh waters
- Springs – These are natural underground water sources flowing out to the ground.
- Rock Catchment areas and Rockholes – Rocks and rock formations may contain trapped waters.
- Excavated Dams – Dams are excavated Earth surfaces for the purpose of trapping water in them for storage for various usage
- Wells and bores are drilled holes that reach the groundwater for water source.
Water contamination especially to the ground water results to poor quality of water supplied for daily use for human activities. It also poses potential health problems to animals and man drinking from them. Different technologies are being applied nowadays to address the contamination problems of the drinking water supplies. This includes water treatment and other alternative solutions which entails cost to make the water supply maintain its quality for both domestic and industrial consumption (EPA, n.d).
This Laboratory Work composed of three experiments show what is contaminated water, how water can be contaminated. Contaminated water must undergo to water treatment process to make them potable again. In the last part, bottled water that undergoes water treatment process is compared with the tap water.
Materials and Methods:
In experiment 1, the various types of contaminants or pollutants in the groundwater are determined. The experiment utilizes 8 labeled 250 mL beakers, 1 100 mL beaker, funnel, scissors, graduated cylinder, wooden stir sticks, and marker. The beakers 1 to 4 were filled with water. Each of the beakers is then added with various materials such as vegetable oil, vinegar, and detergent except the first beaker left with water only for comparison purposes. With the use of cheesecloth in funnel, these water mixtures are filtered. The observed physical properties of the water mixtures in each beaker is then noted and recorded.
In the experiment 2, water is filtered in the same way as many water treatments are done. This experiment aims to identify the need for water treatment facilities and the measures needed for water purifications process. The materials needed for this experiment includes water, bleach, sand, activated charcoal, alum soil and the other laboratory wares such beakers, graduated cylinder, funnel and others. First, the soil and water is mixed thoroughly. A part of the solution is poured into one beaker to serve as the contaminated water sample use for comparison at the end of the experiment. The other water soil solution will undergo basic water treatment process. Alum is first added to the dirty water. It is then filtered through the funnel with cheesecloth composed of various filtering layers of sand, activated charcoal, and gravel solidified and cleaned through repeated pouring of tap water in them. The contaminated water is then filtered through the funnel. The output filtrate is then observed taking note of the physical properties such as color, odor, turbidity and others. The filtered water is compared with the previously contaminated water placed in a separate beaker. Observations are recorded.
The experiment #3 seeks to determine the difference of tap water from the commercial bottled water. It aims to identify the health benefits in using bottled water over tap water. This experiment utilizes ammonia test strips for ammonia, chloride, phosphate, and iron. It uses bottled waters from Fiji and Dasani. First, three beakers is allocated for three types of water, that is, tap water, Dasani and Fiji containing 100 mL water sample from each of them. These waters are tested with the presence of ammonia, chloride, phosphate and iron by dipping the test strips on each beaker one at a time. The colors of the strips after dipped in the various water samples are noted and recorded. There is also the 4 in 1 test that represents the water parameters of pH, Chlorine, Alkalinity and water hardness.
Results
The three experiments for have different results. For the experiment #1, the beaker water added with the vegetable oil resulted with the oil settling on top of the water. Water and oil did not mix and there is no observed smell. The next beaker where vinegar is added with water is observed that the two components mixed together and the solution resulted to a sour smell. The water added with detergent resulted to a colored and foamy solution. When these water samples are filtered through soiled cheesecloth, water samples become more turbid, colored and smelly.
Experiment # 2 aims to determine the result of contaminated soiled water after filtered through various layers. The filtrate resulted into a colorless, odorless, and clear solution. The water sample is different from the soiled contaminated water sample left in the other beaker.
In the Experiment #3, the three water samples resulted to zero value in the ammonia, chlorine, phosphate and iron test. In the 4 in 1 test, various values resulted. Tap water has a 2, 0, 40, and 0 for the respective parameters: pH, total alkalinity (mg/L), total chlorine (mg/L), and total hardness (mg/L). Danasi bottled water sample resulted to 8, 4, 80 and 120 while Fiji has 3, 0.2, 80, and 50.
Discussion
Water contamination is tested in these three experiments. In the first experiment, it can be seen that oil when filtered through soil, got disengaged from the water solution. Vinegar and detergent, is apparently present in the water solution through the smell that comes along the filtrate. Vinegar affects water quality such that it makes water more acidic. Detergent composed of various chemicals such as surfactants comprised of phosphate, carbonate and others can seeped through the groundwater thereby contaminating the groundwater (Alhajjar et. al, 1989). These substances can be taken from domestic activities such as washing, septic wastes, and others.
Water when contaminated can be treated to make it usable for domestic use such as drinking through water treatment. Water treatment involves science and engineering in making the water supply suitable for various applications. In the Experiment #2, it is visibly clear that treated water varies greatly from contaminated water. Based on the results, water after treatment through various layers of filtration resulted to a colorless, odorless, and clear water filtrate. Treatment processes undergo various stages. The presence of gravels on top of filter layer is for the flocculation or sedimentation. Alum is used to promote coagulation. These coagulated particles then settle down and can be separated from the water. Filtration in water treatment is necessary to remove big and small particles from the water. It clarifies the water resulting to clear water filtrate. Chlorination is applied for disinfection. It removes bacteria and dangerous microbes that pose danger to the human health. Other stages can include ion exchange, absorption, osmosis and other technologies (AWWA, n.d).
Water quality must be maintained from water sources as well as for treated waters such as bottled waters. There are identified parameters that can be tested to ensure that water is quality or not. Experiment #3 shows the various tests for water quality. These parameters include alkalinity, ammonia, chlorine, phosphates, pH, hardness and many more. The results show the various results for tap water and two brands of bottled water.
Tap water and bottled water are comparable in terms of their safety. As mandated by FDA, bottled water must undergo good manufacturing practices to ensure that bottled water are under good sanitary conditions and safe from bacteria, chemicals and other contaminants (Mayo Clinic, 2014).
Conclusion
Water is a basic necessity. It is necessary for human activities in the day to day life. Drinking water must have water quality to ensure safety of health for those who consume them. Water contamination can be rooted from domestic and human activities. There are various water contaminants the seep through the ground and get carried along the water cycle. When water for drinking and food consumption is contaminated, it can cause threat to the human health. Contaminations can cause water pollution which carry along microorganisms that can cause sickness, diseases and even death. These contaminations can be removed through water treatment to get it back to their natural state. There are various processes involved in the treatment of water. When water is treated, it is safer to drink as the various procedures along the water treatment makes the water clean and safe. There are parameters measured to ensure the quality of water which includes pH, alkalinity, hardness, chlorine, and many more. These parameters can be measured readily through testing strips and kits. Good examples of treated water are those bottled waters sold commercially. Bottled waters undergo water treatment that presents safer water for drinking. Under the FDA, they are mandated to undergo several steps of treating processes before they are sold to consumers. In this way, sickness and diseases due to water contamination can be prevented. Water must be kept clean at all times to ensure good health for humanity both now and the next generations to come.
Works Cited
Alhajjar, B., Harkin, J., Chesters, G. (1989). “Detergent Formula Effect on Transport of
Nutrients to Ground Water from Septic Systems”. Accessible through http://www.soils.wisc.edu/sswmp/pubs/7.11.pdf
Australian Government Department of Health. (2010). “Environmental Health Practitioner
Manual: A Resource manual for Environmental Health Practitioners working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities”. Accessible from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-enhealth- manual-atsi-cnt-l~ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l-ch6~ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l- ch6.1
AWWA. Drinking Water Week Blue. (n.d).“USEPA: Drinking Water Treatment”. Accessible
through http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/sdwa/upload/ 2009_08_28 _sdwa_fs_30ann_treatment_web.pdf
Mayo Clinic. (2014). “Nutrition and Healthy Eating”. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education
and Research. Accessible through http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition- and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/tap-water/faq-20058017
USEPA: Environment Protection Agency. (n.d). “Getting Up to Speed: Ground Water Contamination”. Accessible through http://www.epa.gov/region1/students/pdfs/gwc1.pdf
