WATER QUALITY TESTING

ALONG THE

LITTLE ARKANSAS RIVER

2002

 

A

SUMMER WORKSHOP PROJECT

 

BY

TRENT PREHEIM

AN EISENHOWER-FUNDED PROGRAM

THROUGH

EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY

May 10, 2002

 

This project is a result of a summer workshop held in July 2001 at Emporia State University. The workshop introduced various Earth Science content and resources within the context of tools and technologies including:

  1. Digital Cameras
  2. Geographic Information Systems
  3. Web Page Authoring

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

INTRODUCTION

I am an 8th grade Earth Science teacher at Valley Center Middle School in Valley Center, Kansas, USA. See the black arrow on the map below.

Map by

My knowledge of technology I would consider "rough" at best. Therefore, this workshop presented an opportunity to expand my knowledge about things that are useful in helping students to learn. The ability to use different teaching styles through the use of technology, especially as it pertained to Earth Science, promised to be extremely beneficial.

For this project, I was to examine some Earth Science phenomenon that was important to our location. The qualilty of the Arkansas River and its tributaries, which are used for recreation, irrigation, consumption, etc..., is under constant scrutiny. This made "Testing the Water of the Little Arkansas River" an attractive topic.

The 6th grade class, taught by Mrs. Deb Williams, already had this project in place. Every year they take a mini field trip to the river to run a series of tests. Rather than change my curriculum and make 8th graders go back again, The wonderful Mrs. Williams agreed to let me work with them part-time.

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CLASSROOM PREPARATION

Before taking their trip, the students prepare by:

1. PRACTICING THE FOLLOWING FIELD TESTS:

  • Dissolved Oxygen
  • Current Speed
  • Air & Water Temperature
  • Measuring pH
  • Density & Salinity
  • Turbidity
  • Sediment Analysis
  • Nitrates
  • Phosphates
  • Coliform Bacteria
  • Benthic Macroinvertebrates

    • By doing these tests in advance, the students were able to better understand what they were testing, make better predictions, and be more efficient at the test site.

    2. ANALYZE DATA FROM THE PAST YEAR

    Water Quality Testing - Little Arkansas River - 2001

     

     GROUP 1 4-26-01

    GROUP 2 4-8-01

    GROUP 3 5-10-01

    GROUP 4 5-15-01

    WEATHER CONDITIONS
    Temp-27 C
    Sky -P.Cloudy
    Wind-Calm SE
    Temp-24 C
    Sky -Clear
    Wind-Calm S
    Temp-30 C
    Sky -P.Cloudy
    Wind-Calm SW
    Temp-32 C
    Sky -Clear
    Wind-Calm SE
    WATER TEMP / C. BACTERIA
    Temp-18 C
    Positive
    Temp-20 C
    Positive 
    Temp-30 C
    Positive 
    Temp-28 C
    Positive 
    pH / PHOSPHATES
    6.25
    3.63 
    6
    2.67 
    6
    4
    6.63
    3.25 
    CURRENT SPEED 
    34.44 cm/s
    		 34.22 cm/s  34.62 cm/s  33.33 cm/s 
    DISSOLVED OXYGEN 5 ppm  2.25 ppm  3 ppm  3 ppm 
    TURBIDITY / NITRATES
    66.25 JTU
    2.75 ppm 
    100 JTU
    11.67 ppm 
    87.5 JTU
    2.5 ppm 
    42.5 JTU
    2.88 ppm 
    SALINITY 1.00275 ppt 1.954 ppt  1.0 ppt  3.75 ppt 
    DENSITY  > 1 > 1   > 1 > 1 
    SEDIMENT
    Med. Course to
    Very Course  
    Med. Course to
    Very Course 
    Med. Course to
    Very Course 
    Med. Course to
    Very Course 
    BIOTIC
    2 dragonflies
    1 Midge
    4 dragonflies
    1 Mayfly
    2 Minnows
    1 Cranefly
    4 Boatmen
    4 dragonflies
    6 Boatmen
    1 Minnow  
    2 dragonflies
    21 Minnows
    20 Boatmen 

    CONCLUSIONS of 2001 Tests:

    On Each successive trip the air temperature increased, as well as the water temperature. The pH level was slightly acidic, but remained about the same (6) for all four trips. The current speed remained about the same. As water temperature increased, dissolved oxygen decreased. Turbidity increased on the second trip probably due to heavy rains or the new development that had just begun construction. The nitrate levels also increased on the second trip. The most numerous macroinvertebrates (biotic) collected were dragonflies and boatmen. The Little Arkansas appears to be safe water for the living organisms.

    3. FORM HYPOTHESES

    The new development that was begun last spring is even more developed. People are moving in and several homes are under construction. This could have a significant impact on the amount of bacteria, dissolved oxygen, and acidity that is found in the water. However, it may be more telling down river.

    This is extremely intriquing to the students. There are two of my 8th grade students who live downstream and are interested in the results.

     

    Drain from the development that runs

    into the river at the Test Site.

     

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    AT THE RIVER

    The 6th grade class takes their trip to the same location along the Little Arkansas River within the same 2-3 week period every year. Four classes take their turn on different days. This year, the last day was May 7.

    At the river, various adult volunteers helped guide the students through various stations. I had the pleasure of doing the "Current Speed". Each station was allotted 10 minutes before the students rotated to the next one.

    A GPS reading was taken to show the exact location where the water was tested.

     

    PICTURES FROM THE RIVER

     

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    DATA

    Data was not available at this time as the students were averaging results from each trip.

    Water Quality Testing - Little Arkansas River - 2002

     

     GROUP 1 4-30-02

    GROUP 2 5-2-02

    GROUP 3

    5-7-01

    GROUP 4 5-8-02

    WEATHER CONDITIONS
    WATER TEMP / C. BACTERIA
    pH / PHOSPHATES
    CURRENT SPEED
    DISSOLVED OXYGEN
    TURBIDITY / NITRATES
    SALINITY
    DENSITY    
    SEDIMENT
    BIOTIC

     

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    CONCLUSIONS

     

    Conclusions are also unavailable until the data is organized and analyzed.

     

     

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    Return to 2002 Workshop Projects.