Seneca Lake Research Plan 

Research Question: How does the water quality of Seneca Lake affect the conditions of plants/animals living in the lake? 

Variables: 

• Controlled- amount of water being tested, what part of the lake we test from, what day we go on
• Independent- depths of the three locations
• Other- the amount of dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, temperature

There are many factors that are crucial to the success of aquatic ecosystems such as the levels of 
dissolved oxygen and pH. A deficiency of DO is a sign of an unhealthy body of water. There are a variety of factors affecting levels of DO. The atmosphere is a major source, waves and tumbling 
water mix atmospheric oxygen with lake water. Oxygen is also produced by rooted aquatic plants and 
algae as a product of photosynthesis. The pH of river water is the measure of how acidic or basic the water is on a scale of 0-14. It is a measure of hydrogen ion concentration. According to the Water Research Center, the generally accepted minimum amount of DO that will support a large population of various fishes is from 4 to 5 mg/l. When the DO drops below 3 mg/l, even the hardy fish die. Species that cannot tolerate low levels of DO - mayfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs, and beetle larvae - will be replaced by a few kinds of pollution-tolerant organisms, such as worms and fly larvae. The Science of Seneca manual says that a pH of less than 5 or higher than 8.5 is bad for plant life. Low pH is especially harmful to immature fish and insects. According to Lenntech, water with a pH of about 9.6 will cause the gills and eyes of fish to be damaged. 

Hypothesis: I think the DO and pH levels of Seneca Lake will be within a healthy level in order to maintain animal and plant life.

Procedure: 

• Collect an equal water sample from 3 of our locations 
• test for DO by adding 8 drops of the manganese(II) sulfrate solution (bottle 4167) followed by 8 drops of the alkaline potassium iodize azide solution (bottle 7166) to the LaMotte sample bottle
• mix it all up and wait 3-4 minutes to allow the orange/brown precipitate to settle
• add one level of sulfamic acid (bottle 6286) to the solution you made above 
• shake until all crystals have dissolved 
• pour this new solution from the LaMotte bottle into the titration tube up to 20ml
• fill the Direct Reading Titrator (0337) up to the 0 mark with the sodium thiosulfate solution
• put the titrator through the hole in the cap of the titration tube and stir in one drop of titrant until the bluish color is gone. 
• dump everything left over into a labeled waste container and clean with distilled water. 

Question: Will we be doing this much of a detailed procedure or a less complex procedure like our Furnace Brook lab?

Citations:  

• Water Quality." Water Quality. Cuyahoga River Water Quality Monitoring Program, Cleveland State University, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
• Oram, Brian, Mr. "Dissolved Oxygen in a Stream May Vary from 0 Mg/l to 18 Mg/l. Readings above 18 Mg/l Are Physically Impossible." Dissolved Oxygen in Water, Streams, Watershed. Water Research Watershed Center, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
• "Water Treatment Solutions." PH and Alkalinity. LennTech, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.