WATER TESTING

FOR WATER POLLUTION

IN GARFIELD COUNTY, CO



DeMent, Kalon
Eagle, Jasmine
Kobzina, LeiLani






John Hughes
Pollution, Ecosystem Destruction, and Green
Technologies
11-5-14


Purpose: Finding bodies of water in the Garfield County area that could prompt further
testing with more tools and variables.

Background: Six variables were tested in order to determine which bodies of water in
Garfield County, Colorado might be polluted. The variables tested were pH, acidity, alkalinity,
dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and hardness.


pH:
Measuring pH in water allows for the detection of acid pollution. If the pH is less
than 5.6, it can indicate acid pollution. If the pH range from 6.5 to 8.5 can indicate healthy
water.

Acidity: The capability of water to neutralize bases. Testing for acidity can account for acids
that the pH cannot find.

Alkalinity: The ability of water to resist pH change inclined towards acidity.

Dissolved Oxygen: The level of oxygen in water, which can be affected by nitrates and
whatever else there was that John said.

Nitrates:
A chemical unit that forms bonds with inorganic and organic compounds.
Nitrate is typically a sign of fertilizers usage in commercial and personal circumstances,
particularly applied in the agricultural industry.

Water Hardness: Water hardness is a measure of the rate of dissolved minerals in water.
Abnormally high water hardness levels can be a sign of metal pollution.

Data: The water that had the highest dissolved oxygen was Garfield Creek, followed by
Elk Creek. The Roaring Fork River and the Colorado River showed no significant difference.
Garfield Creek and Elk Creek had an even amount of hardness: the Colorado River and the
Roaring Fork River had approximately the same amount of hardness as well. The pH level
in all four of our bodies of water were at a healthy level. The distilled water and Garfield
Creek have no significant difference of acidity followed by Elk Creek and the Colorado River
which are approximately at an even amount. The Roaring Fork had the lowest amount of
acidity in all four bodies of our testing. Garfield Creek by far had the highest alkalinity
followed by Elk Creek, the Colorado River and the Roaring Fork river showed no significant
difference, and with the lowest alkalinity was the Distilled Water. From these data collected

from Garfield Creek it is clear that we should study the bodies of water closest to the
hydraulic fracturing. We should study Maim Creek and Rifle creek because they are in the
Rifle, Silt area and there is an abundance of oil wells.

In the experiment we learned the dissolved oxygen, hardness, and alkalinity in four
different bodies of water