SDfinalsummary

Shaela Delaney


 * Mashamoquet is located in Pomfret, CT. Historical uses of Mashamoquet is the name came is indian and it means "stream of good fishing". It wasn't always a park, a factory was once located there. Current uses of Mashamoquet are people go there to have cook outs and go swimming. At Mashamoquet it's pretty clean, more in the summer time it gets littered because of all the people there swimming but people keep it pretty clean. It smells normal, like your in the woods.


 * When we collected the data it was wet and rainy. The average temperature of the water is around 15 degrees c. My role during the field trip was to do the water hardness test and I also collected the temperature of the water.


 * The 1st 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 added 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 titrate 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.


 * The 2nd 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.


 * The 3rd 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. PH does not equal ppm of alkalinity


 * The 4th 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 colorimeter 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.


 * The ammonia test, like the ph test was done with an indicator. The darker the green, the more ammonia was present. 1mg/l = 1ppm. Test results for ammonia are often expressed as ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N), or "nitrogen that was in the form of ammonia." In unpolluted, well-oxygenated freshwaters NH3-N levels are usually less than 1.0 mg/l. In CT, the maximum acceptable concentration of NH3-N, assuming a pH of 7.0 and a temperature of 250C, is 1.24 mg/l. In especially sensitive areas, like salmon spawning grounds, the maximum limit is lower (0.86 mg/l). As either temperature or pH change, the amount of ammonia needed to produce the same toxic effects also changes. If temperature or pH decrease, more NH3 is needed and the maximum acceptable concentration increases. Conversely, if temperature or pH rise, less NH3 is needed and the maximum limit decreases. The criteria for NH3-N concentrations at various temperatures, given a constant pH, are presented in Appendix D of Water Quality Standards (CT DEP 1992). For a description of the chemical reactions occurring in tests for NH3-N, see the section entitled "Chemical Reactions." The Replicate 1 (ppm) is 0.25. The Replicate 2 is 0.25 the replicate 3 is 0.25. There was no replicate 4 or 5. Mashamoquet is considered healthy because it falls under 1.0 mg/l of ammonia


 * PH is a measure which determines weather the water is acidic or basic (alkaline). Using an electrical probe sensitive to hydrogen ion activity, is how it's measured. The PH scale ranges from 14 to basic and is logarithmic. A change of one pH unit represents a tenfold change in hydrogen ion concentration.The PH of water is extremely important to water life. Most aquatic species tolerate a limited pH range but most fish require a pH above 5.5 for growth and reproduction. If water becomes too acidic metals such as aluminum and lead, can be brought in from the surrounding soil and bottom sediments, contaminating fish and other organisms.


 * The factors that might influence the water quality are; the coliform bacteria that is present inside of people and animals. The presence in the water of other more harmful bacteria found in the fecal matter. Mostly is it's location, it gets a lot of runoff when it rains and effect the fish and other living things in the water. The bacteria problem could be in the ground water or in the above ground runoff or could be the two together. There is a stream that flows into Mashamoquet near the main entrance to the park. Bacteria levels are extremely high right after it rains.The main source of high bacteria levels in the brook is faulty septic systems leaking into the ground water. This can affect the life of fish 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.


 * After gathering all of the data, Mashmouquet seems to be a healthy envionrment. The dissolved oxygen was healthy, the alkalinity was safe enough for the fish, the nitrate test was kind of low but it wasn't bad enough to be concerned. On all three ammonia tests it was .25 ppm so it was closest to the 0 mark, which is low but healthy. The PH test was healthy because all four results came out to the 6 PH range and the healthy pH number is 7. The only test that came out to be un-healthy 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 fixed and 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 KHS.