ELO SUMMER WORKSHOP:Water Treatment, and Macro-invertebrates

By: Marisa Bourget, and Jaziah Candelario.

OUR HELPER: KEITH

• This is Keith, who is teaching us on how to test the water.

• He gave us a kit on how to test. And he gave us directions.

• He taught the whole green design lab, yet the picture only got Bryan, Noah, Raquel, Nikki, D’Ondre, Matthew and Assan.

Water Treatment:Dissolved oxygen

• We used the Dissolved Oxygen kit on the right to see what the oxygen levels were for the Blackstone river.

• We also had a tablet to test for coliform. The Coliform tablet for the Blackstone river came back negative.

WATER TREATMENT:WHAT IS DISSOLVED OXYGEN?

DO is how the aquatic life breathe underwater. and some sensitive animals may move away, weaken,

or die.Cold water holds more oxygen than warm water and

water holds less oxygen at higher altitudes. Thermal discharges, such as water used to cool machinery in a manufacturing plant or a and aquatic plants have not been producing oxygen since sunset.

power plant, raise the temperature of water and lower its oxygen content. Aquatic animals are most vulnerable to lowered DO levels in the early morning on hot summer days when stream flows are low, water temperatures are high,

WATER TREATMENT:DISSOLVED OXYGEN- TOP OF RIVER VS BOTTOM

At the top of the Blackstone river, right under the train tracks, we tested for dissolved oxygen. The spot we tested, came back as 9 mg/L. Which has an oxygen saturation of 110%.

At the bottom of the Blackstone river, at river island, near the band-stage, the DO was also 9 mg/L, but since the water temperature was cooler it made the oxygen saturation about 10% cooler. So it brought it down to 100%.

WATER TREATMENT: HYPOTHESISIf the water went over the dam, then the

water at the bottom would have been more oxygenated, because the water would have been moved around a lot more.

Our hypothesis turned out to be false, because we cannot assume that the water will have more oxygen in one spot more than the other. Since the water is constantly moving, it would be assumed that you’ll have more oxygen at the bottom, but Jaziah and I were wrong.

WATER TREATMENT: COLIFORMColiforms can be found in the aquatic environment, in

soil and on vegetation; they are universally present in large numbers in the feces of warm-blooded animals. Because the origins of fecal coliforms are more specific than the origins of the more general total coliform group of bacteria, fecal coliforms are considered a more accurate indication of animal or human waste than the total coliforms.

MACRO-INVERTEBRATES:MAYFLY NYMPH

• Nymphs or Larvae live under water up to two years, move to land and shed as adults. The legs have a single claw and there may be two to three tails.

• The common name ‘Mayfly’ is quite misleading because this group of insects can appear throughout the year. In fact, at one point they were called dayflies due to some of the species having an adult life of a single day. The common name comes from the habit of one species, Ephemera dance, which emerge as adults when the Mayflower or Hawthorn is in bloom.

MACRO-INVERTEBRATES: STONEFLY NYMPH

• A stonefly nymph has thread-like gills, and on his feet two claws, he clings to under sides of rocks. In swifter streams, because he would be swept away, if he frolicked in mid-stream thoughtlessly. STONEFLY nymphs live in the running water of rivers and streams. You will not find them in quiet ponds, but you may find them in a wide pool in a brook or creek through which the water runs continuously.

MACRO-INVERTEBRATE: DOBSONFLY (HELLGRAMMITE) NYMPH• The dobsonfly nymph, known as

hellgrammite, is predaceous, feeding on smaller aquatic invertebrates. They are large larvae up to 3 inches (7.5 cm) in length, with strong jaws and legs and seven or eight pairs of gill filaments attached to the abdomen, which look like small legs. They are most often found in fast moving streams. Fisherman use the hellgrammites for bait.

• Dobsonfly larvae are poor swimmers that depend on their hooked appendages to hold on to solid surfaces.

• Dobsonfly larvae are also sometimes eaten by fish, frogs, and other aquatic predators.

MACRO-INVERTEBRATES:CRANEFLY NYMPH• Nymph are plump, have a segmented

body, and appear to be transparent.

• The nymph of aquatic species (also called "water worms") will live most of their lives on the bottom ofthe stream or lake under dead leaves or other debris. Nymph of

terrestrial (land) species, live in mud or wet moss near the water. All Crane Fly nymphs eat decaying plants, dead leaves, fungi, or roots of plants.

• When larvae are full grown, they will crawl from the water and burrow into mud or soil. Terrestrial species are already there. Next, they will become pupae (resting stage) where they will slowly change into adult Crane Flies. Usually, they will spend the winter in the mud before they hatch the following Spring.

MICRO-INVERTEBRATESCRANE FLY NYMPHWe went to the top and bottom of the dam and walked in the water, picked up rocks and scraped the bugs off the rocks.

We found four crane flies and there are big and small and we also found a little snail and a big one.

MACRO-INVEERTEBRATES:MIDGE FLY NYMPH

• Can be found in all but the most polluted waters. Their length is up to ½ inch long.

• The body is slightly curved and segmented, often with a distinct dark head. One tiny pair of legs exist below the head and another pair is at the back end.

Water Treatment and Macro-Invertebrates: Conclusion

Overall health of the river

The overall health of the river is okay, it is getting better.

It is safe to say that the river’s aquatic life, and the aquatic

vegetation can safely grow because the rivers health isn’t bad.

The fish in the river can live and grow and repopulate.

The macro-invertebrates can safely live there.

WORK CITIED:http://www.fondriest.com/news/whatisdissolvedoxygen.htmhttp://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/vms52.cfmhttp://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/

coliform_bacteria.htm