Physics 8, Winter/Spring 2012

Water Quality

Physics 8, Winter/Spring 2012

You may check out the Hach Water Quality Test Kit and use it to test water from two sources of your choice. You may work with one other Physics 8 student, to allow all students the opportunity to work with the test kit before the semester ends. However, if it is not possible for you to meet with other Physics 8 students outside of class to perform the tests, you may work alone.

Instructions:

1. Read the “Safety and Disposal Considerations” sheet.

2. Familiarize yourself with the “Material Safety Data Sheets.” A link is provided on the Physics 8 Course Material page. I do not expect you to read every word, but please become familiar with these data sheets. Additional safety information is available at

3. Choose two water sources (not your tap water!). You can choose a stream near your home or kid’s school, your favorite swimming hole, Schumann lake (two blocks directly east of the Physics building), the “stream” running through the wooded area just south of the Physics building, or any other outdoors water sources of your choice.

4. Perform the following tests on the water from your chosen sources

a. alkalinity

b. ammonia

c. carbon dioxide

d. chloride

e. dissolved oxygen

f. nitrite

g. pH

h. supersaturation

i. total hardness

Follow the test kit instructions as carefully as you can. In “real life,” things are never as simple as they appear on paper, so if you have trouble with any of the tests, do the best you can and don’t worry about “perfection.” Perform the tests immediately after getting the water.

5. Complete and hand in the attached report sheet, including a brief assessment of the quality of your water. You may find information about the meaning of most of your tests (and some that you didn’t perform) at Other information can be found by searching the web. For hardness, check

You may call, e-mail, or stop by my office if you have questions about these tests.

The complete battery of tests is “worth” two lab periods. You will be working outside the classroom. I will be available Friday during lab time in case you have any questions.

The tests in these kits have been compared with “Standard Methods” (i.e., professional) of analysis, and it has been shown “that the kits generally are reliable for making routine water analyses of saline waters for practical aquacultural applications.” See

Before you return the kit, please inventory the contents!

Water Quality Report Sheet

For items 1 and 2, check the box to indicate you read the data sheet.

1. I read the “Safety and Disposal Considerations” sheet.

2. I familiarized myself with the “Material Safety Data Sheets.”

3. Sources of water tested (location, date, time):

4. Water quality test results:Source 1Source 2

a. alkalinity (give your result in mg/L)______

(multiply grains per gallon by 17.1)

b. ammonia (give your result in mg/L)______

c. carbon dioxide (give your result in mg/L)______

d. chloride (give your result in mg/L)______

e. dissolved oxygen (give your result in mg/L)______

f. nitrite (give your result in mg/L)______

g. pH (a number between 4.0 and 10.0)______

h. supersaturation (yes or no)______

i. total hardness(give your result in mg/L)______

(multiply grains per gallon by 17.1)

5.Provide a brief report on the quality of the water you tested. A few sentences will suffice. You can use the space below or a separate sheet for this report.

Water Quality Test Kit Inventory Sheet

Please check when you receive the test kit that it contains the following:

1. Instruction Manual

2. Reagent packets (in plastic bags)

Bromcresol Green-Methyl Red Indicator Powder

NitriVer 3 Nitrite Reagent

Chloride 2 Indicator

Dissolved Oxygen 1 Reagent

Dissolved Oxygen 2 Reagent

3. Plastic boxes of Powder Pillows

Dissolved Oxygen 3 Reagent

(4 boxes, originally 25 pillows per box)

4. Bottled reagents

Sodium Thiosulfate

Buffer Solution Hardness 1

Titrant Solution Hardness 3

Silver Nitrate Solution

Sodium Hydroxide

Sulfuric Acid

5. Bottled reagents (wrap in dark cloth when not in use)

Nessler reagent

Wide range 4 pH indicator

ManVer Hardness Indicator

6. Rochelle Salt solution

7. Phenolphthalein solution

8. Three Color Discs

Ammonia nitrogen

Nitrite nitrogen

Wide range pH

9. Black Color Disc box

10. Dual-scale thermometer

(you may measure water temperature if you wish)

11. “Glassware”

glass mixing bottle

2 plastic viewing tubes

1 plastic measuring tube

2 droppers

1 glass dissolved oxygen bottle with stopper

12. 2 clear safety goggles

There is no room in the kit for these, so they will be provided separately. Please do not lose!

The pictures in the test kit manual show sample being poured out of something that looks like a beaker. This is just the container you use to obtain the water sample (not provided).