DDfinalsummary

Destinee Duclau final summary.

**Description of the physical Environment/ background information**
the site that we went to test the water was mashamoquet brook in Pomfret Connecticut. The region was once the domain of the Mohegan Chief Uncas. The name Mashamoquet is Indian for "stream of good fishing" and originally was applied to the entire area. Later, Captain John Sabin built a house here to serve as an outpost and the settlement gradually increased in size. In 1723, parish and township privileges were granted and the town became Pomfret, named after Pontefract in Yorkshire, England, it wasn't always a park it once was a factory. Two camping areas are available. The Mashamoquet Brook Campground has 20 wooded sites, with outhouses, drinking water and a nearby dumping station. The Wolf Den Campground offers 35 campsites, with restrooms, showers, drinking water, and a dumping station. The campgrounds are open from mid-April through Columbus Day. Campgrounds may also be reserved for youth group camping. Additional park facilities include restrooms, concessions, picnic shelters, and picnic tables. the site that we tested was the river part of mashamoquet that was surrounded by trees that were hanging over the water, so all of the thing on the tree could fall in to the water. but it was moving so the things falling didnt just stay in the water. It had a lot of rocks in the water, the road was about 50 feet from the water. there wasnt any litter that we could see, the land looked really clean. the water did not have any odor to it.

**Data Collection Conditions**
when we went to the brook to test the water the weather was wet and rainy, the average temperature of the water on that day was 15 degrees Celsius. when i was at the feild trip i had to do the water testing for hardness, we did 3 different testing to get the correct results.

Dissolved oxygen
the first group tested for dissolved oxygen in the water, they took a sample of water and made sure that there was no air in the bottle, then they add 8 drops of starch indicator solution, the solution then turned blue, then you continue to add drops of the water till the blue color just disappears then read the tip of the plunger for the titration reading. If the river at Mashmoquet was to be unhealthy than the river would be lower than 5, because the ecosystem for the river consists of trout pumpkin seeds and other small creatures. This was an overall positive test, because we took water samples of the water and the DO level came out to be a 9.2 and trout and salmon only need a 5 to live in.

Water hardness
the second group had to test for water hardness witch was my group, We were assigned to take the water hardness levels. we took three samples of water and tested then.Hardness is a measure of the total concentration of calcium and magnesium ions, and, to a lesser extent, the salts of other minerals. Calcium and magnesium enter the water via the action of carbonic acid. As water and carbon dioxide react, carbonic acid is produced and dissolves calcium and magnesium from carbonate rocks.A Positive water hardness test would be 121 to 180=hard. A unhealthy water hardness test would be soft witch is 0 to 60. When we tested the water in mashamoquest we got a total hardness of 40, which is a soft result. Soft water can be detrimental to aquatic organisms, especially fish. Heavy metals like mercury and lead, as well as nonmetals like ammonia, are more toxic in soft waters than in hard waters. The water hardness level that we got in mashamoquest was a really unhealthy level for the fish. for a healthy level for fish would be the hard level witch is 121 to 180.

Alkalinity
Ph does not equal alkalinity The third group had to test for alkalinity, there assigned task was testing the Alkalinity in the water at Mashamoquet In this project summary Kristina was in charge of typing the information and data along with collecting the information. Mary was in charge of gathering data while Corey and Evan are responsible for presenting. Kristina and Mary conducted three tests all of which had a stable PH of 20.6. While Evan and Corey conducted two tests one with a PH level of 20.6 and one with a PH level of 40. The alkalinity of fresh waters is typically between 20 and 200 mg/l. In CT, alkalinity values are generally well below 100 mg/l. The pH of water does not decline steadily with acid contamination. Buffering minerals moderate the decline to around pH 6.4. Below pH 5.5 very little buffering materials remain and the pH declines rapidly upon addition of acid. At about pH 4.5, the buffering capacity of the water is lost. A negative PH level would be either too low or too high. The levels found at Mashamoquet were border line for fresh water, meaning it is safe enough for aquatic animals.

Nitrate
the forth groups task was the Nitrate test, they took a sample of the water. Then they had to take 5ml of the sample of water and put it into three different tubes. They had distilled water that we put into the calorimeter and had to push the "30 second read" button and adjust the "Set Blank" button to 100%. Pour 5Ml of water into a graduated Cylinder. Return it to the 'Reading tube'. Measure 5ml of Mixed Acid Reagent to the tube, mix and wait. Add .2g of Nitrate reducing reagent by filing the .1g spoon twice. Mix within a four period minute. Wait ten minutes. Insert the reading tube into the chamber and press the "30 second read button". Then read the percentage and change it to ppm with the chart given. For a healthy result in an unpolluted area, the levels are usually less than 1.0 mg/l. Acceptable concentrate in CT with a pH pf 7.0 and temp of 250C is 1.24 mg. For an unhealthy result would be exceeding more than 10 mg/l. If Elevated this is caused by human contamination from fertilizers and sewage. The high levels of nitrates causes growth to aquatic plants and can be harmful to small mammals.The test results at Mashamoquet State Park, which was Ammonia and then the Nitrate test. The results for the Ammonia test was 0.25 ppm for each of our three tries. The results for the Nitrate test was 0.40 ppm for the first try, 0.34 ppm for the second try, and 0.38 ppm for the last try. Mashamoquet, it is a little lower than it should be to be able to meet the standard of a healthy environment. The numbers for a healthy environment are usually less than 1.0 mg/l, which with there results for the Nitrate test works. It may be on the lower side for a healthy environment but at least it is in the range where it will not cause much harm.

Ammonia
the fifth testing that was done on this trip was ammonia. The ammonia test, like the ph test was done with an indicator. The darker the green, the more ammonia was present. 1mg/l = 1ppm. The toxicity of ammonia is affected by several factors including pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, salinity, carbon dioxide concentration, previous acclimation to NH3, fluctuating or intermittent exposures, and other toxins. Of all factors affecting toxicity, temperature and pH are considered the most important. Increases in either variable are associated with increased concentrations of NH3 relative to NH4+. As NH3 becomes more abundant, the risk to aquatic organisms increases.The test result for Mashamoquet was: The results were 0.25 ppm for the first try, 0.25 ppm for the second try, and 0.25 ppm for the last try. The comparison of the Mashamoquet test to a healthy environment was: The ideal and normal measurement of Ammonia is zero. If fish though were expected to tolerate an Ammonia level of 1 ppm saying that the pH was 7.0, or even as high as 10 ppm if the pH was at 6.0. At a pH of 8.0, just 0.1 ppm could be dangerous to the fish.

pH
pH is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration of water, which determines whether the water is acidic or "basic" (alkaline). It is measured using an electrical probe sensitive to hydrogen ion activity. The pH scale ranges from 14 (very acidic) to(very alkaline or "basic")and is logarithmic. a change of one pH unit represents a tenfold change in hydrogen ionconcentration.The pH of water is extremely important to aquatic life. Most aquatic species tolerate a limited pH range and most fish require a pH above 5.5 for growth and reproduction. If waters become too acidic, metals, such as aluminum and lead, can be brought in from the surrounding soil and bottom sediments, contaminating fish and other aquatic organisms.

Environmental impact
The biological factors that might influence the water quality are: The Coliform bacteria that is present in the intestines of people and animals. the presence in the water of other more harmful bacteria found in the fecal matter. Mostly due to its location, it gets a lot of runoff when it rains will be the effect on the fish,and other living things in the water. The bacteria problem could be in the groundwater or in the above-ground runoff or more likely, some combination of the two. there is a stream that flows into Mashamoquet Brook near the main entrance to the park, bacteria levels are extremely high right after rainstorms.The most reasonable source of high bacteria levels in the brook, is faulty septic systems leaking into the groundwater. This can affect the fish life because of the bacteria that is coming from these sources which can cause an even bigger problem when it comes in to contact with the water and the fish.

Conclusion/summary
Overall, after reading all of the tests, it seems to me that yes this is a fairly healthy environment. The dissolved oxygen was be very healthy, the alkalinity was safe enough for the fish, the nitrate test was on the lower side of a healthy environment but wouldn't cause that much damage. the ammonia test was closer to the zero mark because all three tests were 0.25 ppm, which is low but healthy, and the pH test was very healthy because all four results came out to the 6.0 pH range and the healthy pH number is 7.0. The only test that came out to be unhealthy for fish life was the water hardness since the result came out to 40 which means that the water is soft. we could keep mashamoquet clean by making sure the septic is correct,and always picking up after our animals that we bring into the park. with all of the test that we did, that data shows that mashamoquet was cleaner then the pond water that we tested outside of Killingly high school.