Tap Water Tour Introduction Almost ¾ of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Less than 1% of that water is available to us. The average family uses 300 gallons of water/day. Everyone has things in their water besides water. Some of these things taste bad. Water Quality Scientists test water for these things and the fix water before you drink.

Introduction continued All of our testing tablets have chemical indicators in them. When the substance you are testing for reacts with the indicator, a chemical reaction takes place. The chemical reaction results in a color change of your sample. Different shades of color indicate different levels of that substance. By comparing your color change with a color scale, you can tell the level of that substance in your sample. Hypothesis……………………….

pH pH is a measure of how acidic or basic (alkaline) something is We assign numbers to things to tell us just how acidic of basic (alkaline) they are Strong acids and bases are dangerous Weak acids and bases are part of everyday life Distilled water has nothing dissolved in it

Chlorine Chlorine (Cl2) is not found naturally in water Chlorine is added to water at city treatment plants Chlorine is added to kill bacteria and germs and to control algae growth. Too much (Cl2) smells and tastes bad and can irritate your skin. It can also kill plants and fish The average swimming pool has twice as much (Cl2) as your drinking water Bleach has 15,000 times as much as your drinking water

Iron Iron (Fe) is found naturally in most water. Too much iron (Fe) can cause stains in sinks, tubs and on clothes Iron (Fe) sometimes reacts with oxygen (O2) in the air and forms rust (Fe2O3) In rusting, iron changes from a strong metal to a flaky orange solid

Copper Small amounts of copper (Cu) are found naturally in water. Sometimes copper (Cu) is put into water to control algae growth Copper can dissolve from the copper pipes and fittings in your home. Only acidic water dissolves copper from the pipes or if pipes are very old Copper (Cu) can sometimes cause blue-green stains in their bathtubs and sinks

Hardness Nobody thinks of water as being “hard” When we describe water as being hard, we mean it has a lot of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) dissolved in it Hard water is responsible for spots on your drinking glasses, the white crusty scale on your showerhead and even the ring in your bathtub.