1. Underline or highlight two physical parameters.
Water Quality Article
Read the article:
Underline or highlight two physical parameters.
Underline or highlight four chemical parameters.
Underline or highlight two biological parameters.
On the back of the paper, Describe in complete sentences the following:
How does temperature affect water quality? What is the best?
How does turbidity affect temperature and water quality?
How is dissolved oxygen important to water quality?
What does pH tell us?
What does salinity tell us?
What do bioindicators tell us about water quality?

2. Breathing Underwater DE How to Use This Exploration
Read the Introduction and click the Continue button.
2 . Identify the Exploration components.
3. Select an air temperature from the drop-down list and click the Play button.
4. Observe the effects of air temperature on the water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and fish in the pond. Read the description of those effects.
5. Note your observations in the Data chart provided.
6. Repeat with the other temperatures.

3. pH TURBIDITY Water Quality Factors TEMPERATURE DISSOLVED OXYGEN (DO)
PHOSPHATES
BIO-
INDICATORS pH
NITROGEN

4. Water Quality—The Key Ideas
Aquatic ecosystems have different parameters that can help us determine the quality of the water.
Physical and chemical parameters include temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH level, salinity, turbidity, and nitrates.
Biological parameters include the number and types of biological indicators, like macroinvertebrates.

5. Water Quality—Common Misconceptions
Wetlands have no connection to water quality.
Reality: Wetlands are directly related to water quality. Wetlands act as natural water filters, and are also important homes to many different plants and animals.
There is no connection between dissolved oxygen and temperature of water.
Reality: Dissolved oxygen levels are related to water temperature; cold water can hold more dissolved oxygen than warm water.

6. Water Quality—Using DE Science Content
Use the PowerPoint version of this presentation for hyperlinks to these resources, or you can get to them through the browser or search feature.
Exploration: Breathing Underwater
Video Segment: Nitrogen Pollution and Acid Precipitation
Video Segment: Example 3: Comparing Strategies - Modeling or Measuring for Water Quality
Reading Passage: Water Quality and Health
Reading Passage: A Fun-Filled Week at Stream School Summer Camp
Reading Passage: Citizen Stream Teams

7. TEMPERATURE EFFECTS: changes rate of photosynthesis
changes rate of respiration
changes DO in water
cold water holds more DO
hot water holds less DO
changes sensitivity of organisms to toxic
waste, parasites, disease.

8. TEMPERATURE Thermal pollution = adding warm water to cold water.
CAUSES OF THERMAL POLLUTION:
Industry (nuclear power plants, paper mills)
Urban Development (storm water runoff, construction, soil erosion)

9. Temperature affects the oxygen-carrying capacity of water.
Rapid temperature change and temperature extremes can stress aquatic organisms.
Temperature affects the oxygen-carrying capacity of water.
14 Dissolved Oxygen (ppm) 12 10 8 6 4
____________________________________
Winter Summer
As the water warms, the amount of dissolved oxygen decreases.

10. Water Quality – Turbidity
Turbidity is how cloudy a substance is, basically. Which picture is more turbid?
Which would you rather swim in…?

11. TURBIDITY Turbidity refers to water clarity.
Sediments suspended in the water increase turbidity.

12. TURBIDITY

13. TURBIDITY EFFECTS: Clogs fish gills Smothers eggs
Makes water unlivable

14. Water Quality – pH level
pH stands for the potential of Hydrogen in water.
Here’s the pH scale:
Use pH paper on a few objects! Beakers etc.

15. pH pH = measure of concentration of hydrogen ions in a substance
Tells whether substance is:
ACID
BASE
NEUTRAL

16. pH Measured on scale from 0 to 14 0 = highly acidic (HCl)
7 = neutral (pure water)
14 = highly basic (bleach)
Seawater pH ranges from 7.5 – 8.5
Average pH of ocean water = 7.8
pH of natural water = 6.5 – 8.5
Optimal range for life = 6.5 – 8.2

17. pH
US Northeastern rain pH = 4.3
Rain elsewhere in US pH = 5.0 – 5.6

18. Alkalinity refers to the water’s ability to neutralize acids.
Alkalinity is produced by minerals such as limestone.
Limestone is a type of ocean sediment composed of calcium carbonate.

19. Ammonia is a form of nitrogen and part of the Nitrogen Cycle.

20. pH SOURCES OF LOW pH IN WATER:
Acid rain is cause of acid in thousands of lakes
Burning fossil fuels has increased acid rain
EFFECTS OF LOW pH IN WATER:
Low pH directly kills fish
pH < 5, most fish eggs die

21. Water Quality – Dissolved oxygen
The amount of oxygen (yes the gas) dissolved into water. It gets there by rapid movement of water, diffusion, and as a byproduct of photosynthesis!

23. ORGANIC WASTE = LOW DO Organic waste = parts of once living things
EXAMPLES OF ORGANIC WASTE:
Sewage
Farm runoff
Discharge from food processing plants

24. HOW RAW SEWAGE LOWERS DO
RAW SEWAGE GOES INTO WATER:
Decomposers chow down
Decomposers take up oxygen
Decomposers reproduce, taking up more oxygen
No more oxygen for other animals
Nothing left but decomposer & sewage-filled water.

25. Water Quality – Phosphates and Nitrates
Runoff, fertilizer, eutrophication...

26. NITROGEN Living organisms need nitrogen to make proteins
Nitrates (NO3) & Nitrites (NO2) are compounds made of nitrogen & oxygen
Some nitrogen in water is good
The wrong amount is bad

27. NITROGEN SOURCES OF NITROGEN IN WATER: Human & animal waste fertilizer
EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH NITROGEN:
Lowers dissolved oxygen (DO).

28. NITROGEN – EUTROPHICATION
Q: How does Nitrogen reduce the amount of DO?
A: Eutrophication
Nitrogen feeds algae (green stuff)
Algae grows & grows
Algae blocks sunlight
Underwater plants die
Algae die and decompose
The decomposition takes up oxygen
No DO for organisms, so they die

29. PHOSPHATES Phosphorus is an element like hydrogen or oxygen
Phosphorus combines with other things to make phosphates
Essential for living things
Usually present in very small amounts
Too much is bad

30. PHOSPHATES SOURCES OF PHOSPHATES IN WATER: Storm sewer runoff
Soil erosion
Fertilizer
Forest fires
Volcanic eruptions

31. PHOSPHATES EFFECTS OF PHOSPHATES:
Eutrophication (same as with nitrates)

32. Water Quality – Salinity
How much salt is in water, should know this.
PPT means parts per thousand. For example, if in 1000 grams of water, there are 30 grams of salt, it’s ocean water!

33. Water Quality – Thermal pollution
Changing the water quality by adding heated water to a non-heated water source.

34. BIO-INDICATORS
Bio-indicators = organisms that help determine health of water. (or air)
Presence or absence tells something about the water. (or air)
Not always an accurate way to measure water quality.
Accurate in telling environmental stress

35. Use a BIO-INDICATOR!!!

36. A live canary is a BIO-INDICATOR that it’s safe to enter a damaged mine.

37. Definition: Bio-indicators
Bio-indicators: macroinvertibrates found living in water (they tend to remain in one place) that are sensitive to pollution

38. BIO-INDICATORS

39. Levels: Bio-indicators
High level of variety: healthy water source
Small level of variety: poor water source (indicator of high levels of pollution)

40. BIO-INDICATORS HOW HUMANS AFFECT BIO-INDICATORS: Over-fishing
Industrial pollution
Poor farming practices
Adding foreign species

41. BIO-INDICATORS

42. Toxic chemicals usually come from industry and energy production.
The effects are often not known until years after they have entered the environment.

43. Toxic chemicals include heavy metals (lead, mercury), organic compounds (DDT, PCB), inorganic substances (arsenic) and others.

44. Hard Water
Calcium and magnesium dissolved in water are the two most common minerals that make water "hard." The degree of hardness becomes greater as the calcium and magnesium content increases

47. Water Treatment Page C52-53 using the text, answer ?’s
What is the source of the fresh water?
Where does water go first in the treatment plant?
What is added in the mixers?
What do the clumping agents do?
Where does water go next?
What happens in the clarifying pool?
Next, What do filters take out?
What is added to water at end? Why?
What’s next? Next?