Water Quality Procedures

Suspended Solids:

Materials:

· Filter section and orange beaker

· Flask

· Hose

· Pump

· Glass microfiber filters (filter paper)

· Weighing boat

· Scale

· 300 mL beaker

· Forceps

· Tray

Set up:

· Hose attaches to flask and front of pump

· Orange beaker sits on filter section by magnets

· Filter section fits into top of flask

Procedure:

1. Turn on scale and switch mode to grams (g)

2. Zero the scale with weighing boat on it

3. Weigh a piece of filter paper* in boat and record weight *use forceps to hold—do not touch paper

4. Place filter paper on filter section (beneath orange beaker)

5. Fill beaker to 300mL (easier to use regular beaker then pour into orange beaker)

6. Pump water through (be careful to keep water from entering pump)

7. Take out filter paper and place on tray

8. Do steps 3-8 three times per water sample

9. Dry filter paper by:

· Letting dry overnight, or

· Using oven: set to 40 degrees C, dry for ?? minutes when up to temperature

10. Weigh dry filter papers and record weight

11. Subtract first weight from second to get grams of suspended solids

Measured in:

Grams (g)

Chemical Tests:

Materials:

· Chemical kit:

Five test tubes

7 bottles

Directions

5 cards

· Dissolved oxygen:

Test tube

4 bottles

Directions

Card

· Watch/clock/stopwatch

Set up:

· None

Procedures:

1. Follow directions from the kits

Measured in:

Parts per million (ppm)

Turbidity:

Materials:

Kit: Turbidimeter

Empty vials

Black cleaning cloth

Set up:

· None

Procedure:

Completely fill an empty vial and cap it
Dry vial and wipe with black cloth—hold cap only, do not touch glass after wiping
Open turbidimeter and place in vial so that the diamond lines up with the small, rectangular knob
Close lid and turn on
Push range, wait a second, press read
When reading appears record the number

Measured in:

Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU)

Flow:

Materials:

· Kit: Pipe pieces (4 attached and 2 unattached)

Reader

Set up:

· Attach all pieces of pipe
· Attach reader and screw on

Procedure:

Flip switch all the way up to clear
Flip switch all the way down (it’s okay it’s not all the way to zero, just subtract it from the read)
Put in water for one minute
Pull out and record number
Calculate the flow speed V=(0.000854C)+0.05 C=# of counts/min
Calculate the flow Q=ABC A and B are length and width

Measured in:

Cubic meters per second (m³/sec)

Width and Depth:

Materials:

· Tape measure

· Meter stick

Set up:

· None

Procedure:

1. Measure the width at same place where flow measurement was/will be taken

2. Measure the depth at same place where flow measurement was/will be taken

Measured in:

Centimeters (cm)

Surface Temperature:

Materials:

· Thermometer attached to string (for security)

Set up:

· None

Procedure:

1. Place thermometer into water so that the tip is as close to the surface as possible but still completely underwater (near the bank is easiest)

2. Use string to tie the thermometer to keep it in place if needed

3. Leave thermometer in for several minutes

4. Record temperature immediately after taking it out of the water

Measured in:

Degrees Celsius (˚C)

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