Effects of Phosphate and Nitrate on Pond Water By Claudia Phillips September 6, 201 Bloc! "#o
INTRODUCTION
"his lab #as desi$ned to study and obser%e the effects of phosphate and nitrate applied to pond #ater &1'( Phosphorous, commonly used in fertili)ers, is a necessary and %ital element for life but can enhance the effects of eutrophication &the o%er*enrichment of nutrients in #ater' &2'( Nitrate is a common source of food for most al$ae, but too much can ma!e li%in$ conditions in #ater harsh &+'( "hey are both common pollutants found in fresh #ater systems throu$hout the #orld( "he labs main ob-ecti%e #as to analy)e ho# the t#o co mpounds physically affect fresh #ater( "hrou$h a daily detailed analysis and recordin$ of data, my $roup and . modeled the lar$e*scale effects that pollutants such as phosphate and nitrate can ha%e on fresh #ater systems( "he lab #as desi$ned to test the hypothesis that if nitrate and phosphate #ere ap plied to pond #ater repetitiously o%er the course of 10 days, then the phosphate #ould !ill off any al$ae or bacteria $ro#in$ and the nitrate #ould enhance and feed it( /ecallin$ that phosphorous is used in fertili)ers and manure, and !no#in$ that it is a pollutant, . surmised that the compound #ould ha%e a ne$ati%e effect on the pond #ater( Nitrate, also used in fertili)ers, is also found in pri%ate and public #ater and is re$ulated by the EP &'( ra#in$ from this, and !no#in$ that al$ae feed on nitrate, . predicted that the al$ae #ould $ro# due to its ecess in food supply( METHODOLOGY
"he methods follo#ed in this lab are outlined in Lab-Aids™ #20 Pollutant Effects of Phosphates and Nitrates &3'( 4y $roup and . filled 5 containers #ith pond #ater and throu$hout the course of days, applied a consistent amount of phosphate, nitrate, and phosphate and nitrate solution to the cups &"able 1'(
Cup # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Solution None * Control 7 drops phosphate solution 1 drops phosphate solution 7 drops nitrate solution 1 drops nitrate solution 7 drops phosphate and nitrate solution 1 drops phosphate and nitrate solution
Table 1 rops of each solution added per day per cup
E%ery day after addin$ the drops, #e monitored the cups and recorded our obser%ations into a data table( fter #e #ere finished each day, #e placed a #hite paper to#el across all cups and placed it under a heatin$ lamp to be turned on until it #as time a$ain the net day to monitor the in%esti$ation( RESULTS
8%erall, #e found that the nitrate and phosphate solution produced more al$al $ro#th than any other solution( "he first day, each cup of #ater had a similar $reen*tinted appearance &9i$ure 1'( "he sample of #ater #as ta!en from West :a!e in pe, North Carolina( "his day, all #e did #as record its appearance and administer the drops(
Fig. 1 Water containers at day one( Cups #ere a $reenish*bro#nish tint and contained fe# particles of dirt, al$ae, and other miscellaneous material found in ponds( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
s time #ent on, a %ery clear pattern be$an to sho# itself( Cup 6 promptly be$an to $ro# more al$ae than the others &9i$ure 2'( Cup 6 contained 7 drops of phosphate and nitrate solution(
Fig. 2 Cup 6 at day t#o( Some al$ae $ro#th at the bottom around the ed$es( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
"he only other cup to sho# $ro#th from days 2 to + #as Cup +, #hich contained 1 drops of phosphate solution &9i$ure +'( ay three sho#ed the same results( 8nly until day four did the other cups be$in to sho# si$ns of al$ae $ro#th &9i$ure '( Cups +, 6, and 5 sho#ed the most al$ae $ro#th at this point in time &9i$ures 3*5'(
Fig. 3 Cup + at day t#o( Some al$ae $ro#th at bottom, fe# particles around ed$e of bottom( "he effects of the solutions be$an to sho# in most cups around this day( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
Fig. 4 ll cups on day four( ;reen color and particles can be seen at the bottoms of all cups( Cup 6 &second ro#, far ri$ht' has the most $ro#th at this point( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
Fig. 5 Close up of Cup 6 on day four( Cup 6 sho#ed the most substantial $ro#th( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
Fig. 6 Close up of cup 5 on day four( "his cup sho#ed the second most substantial $ro#th at this point( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
Fig. 7 Cup + on day four( "his cup displayed the third most substantial $ro#th on day four( fe# particles #ere seen at the bottom( "he rest of the cups sho#ed %ery little but still si$nificant $ro#th compared to the days prior( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
"he net three days, school #as not in session therefore #e could not record data for the eperiment( s a precaution, the day before the +*day #ee!end my partners and . added triple the amount per day of each solution to each cup( /eturnin$ to school the follo#in$ "uesday, #e found a drastic chan$e to each cup than #hat #e had pre%iously been obser%in$( E%ery cup had a %ery noticeable amount of al$ae, e%en Cup one, #hich #as the controlled cup( Still, some cups had more than others( Cup 6 yet a$ain displayed the most al$ae $ro#th on day of the lab &9i$ure '( Se%eral al$ae particles and a mass of $reen $ro#th #as found at the bottom of the cup, mostly in the $roo%ed ed$e( 8n ay , #e added double the amount of solution drops to account for the pre%ious day(
Fig. Cup 6 on day , the day upon returnin$ to school( Eceptional amount of al$al $ro#th on the bottom of the cup after applyin$ triple the amount of phosphate and nitrate solution( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
ay 7 of the eperiment, the last day of obser%ation, sho#ed little chan$e from that obser%ed on day &9i$ure 7'( 4ore al$ae $re# at the bottom at the same pace, but no drastic chan$es occurred ecept of that in Cup +( Cup + sho#ed a dramatic chan$e o%erni$ht it seemed( lot more al$ae $ro#th occurred( lthou$h nothin$ li!e Cup 6, Cup + sho#ed si$nificant $ro#th in -ust o%er a day compared to the other cups that sho#ed either a sta$$ered or slo# amount of $ro#th( "his can more than li!ely be attributed to the doubled amount of drops #e applied the pre%ious day(
Fig. ! ll cups on day 10, the last day of the lab( Cup si &column one, middle' ha%in$ the most $ro#th #hile the others had si$nificant particles( Cup four displayed the least amount of $ro#th in this lab( Photo courtesy of drian Pa%one(
8%erall throu$hout the duration of the eperiment Cup 6 displayed the most amount of $ro#th #hile Cup sho#ed the least( DISCUSSION
"o some etent, the ori$inal hypothesis that the nitrate solution added to the pond #ater #ould produce al$ae and the phosphate solution #ould !ill off the al$ae #as supported( We found that in Cup 3, the cup that recei%ed 1 drops of nitrate a day produced a lot of al$ae< ho#e%er Cup , #hich recei%ed 7 drops of nitrate per day, produced the least( Still, the cups that produced the most al$ae #ere Cups 6 and 5, ones that recei%ed a nitrate and phosphate solution( So, to a certain etent, yes, the phosphate solution did produce the least amount of al$ae, but the nitrate solution alone did not produce the most amounts of al$ae( "he faults of the hypothesis can be contributed to the fact that a miture of nitrate and phosphate solutions to$ether causes a perfect balance to $ro# more al$ae( We belie%ed that one of the solutions #ould cause $ro#th #hile the other #ould inhibit it( "hat is not true at all( Both nitrate and phosphate result in a $ro#th of al$ae( n increase in nitrate can sometimes be follo#ed by an increase in phosphate, #hich in turn encoura$es al$ae bloom &6'( =ad . or my lab mates !no#n that, the hypothesis #ould ha%e been altered to reflect this information( "he lab could ha%e been impro%ed by studyin$ these samples for a lon$er time or ha%in$ a more >uantifyin$ #ay to measure the al$ae( /ecordin$ only obser%ations sufficed for this short*term eperiment, but ha%in$ a #ay to physically record the $ro#th of the al$ae in a numerical format #ould ha%e been more beneficial to see the full etent of al$ae $ro#th( CONCLUSION
"his models human acti%itys effect on fresh #ater en%ironments( "hrou$h research and these obser%ations, . learned eactly ho# this occurs( "oo much nitro$en and phosphorous in #ater, especially drin!in$ #ater, can result in nutrient o %erproduction #hich results in polluted #ater( Ecess nutrients cause al$al and bacterial $ro#th( When this occurs at the surface of #ater, the layer of al$ae pre%ents li$ht from reachin$ the bottom of the body of #ater, !illin$ or reducin$ the life >uality of plants belo# the surface &'( CIT"TIONS 1. Perlman, =o#ard( ?Phosphorus and Water(? Phosphorus and Water: The U! Water cience chool ( @S;S Water Science School, 15 4ar( 201( Web( 0 Sept( 201( Ahttp#ater(us$s($o%eduphosphorus(htmlD 2. ?Eutrophication and =ypoia(? Eutrophication and "po$ia( World /esources .nstitute, n(d( Web( 0 Sept( 201( Ahttp###(#ri(or$our*#or!pro-ecteutrophication*and* hypoiaD 3. ?Nitrates and "heir Effect on Water uality(? Wheatley /i%er .mpro%ement ;roup, n(d( Web( Sept( 201( Ahttp###(#heatleyri%er(caD(
4. ?Nitrate in rin!in$ Water(? EP, 3 9eb( 201( Web( 0 Sept( 201( Ahttp#ater(epa($o%drin!contaminantsbasicinformationnitrate(cfmD 5. ?:ab ids(? Pollutant Effects of Phosphates and Nitrates( Course =andout( u$ 27 201( 6. ?Water What*ifs(? cience %unction( North Carolina State @ni%ersity, 2 9eb( 2000( Web( 0 Sept( 201( Ahttp###(ncsu(eduscience-unctiondepoteperiments#aterlessonsnpD( 7. ?Nutrient Pollution(? The Proble&( EP, 16 4ar( 201( Web( 0+ Sept( 201( Ahttp###2(epa($o%nutrientpollutionproblemD( ( Fhan, 9areed (, and bid li nsari( ?Eutrophication n Ecolo$ical Gision(?The 'otanical (e)ie* 51( &2003' 7*2( Web( 6 Sept( 201(
