Solids in Water A Laboratory Report

Executive Summary
It is important to know the concentration of solids in a water sample in order to understand the samples bacteriological, aesthetic and chemical conditions. The concentration of solids in effluent streams is regulated and must remain below 30 mg/L. In order to find solid concentrations; Distilled Water, Tap Water, Lake Water, Influent, Mixed Liquor, and six samples of an effluent were tested through four methods. The concentration of Total Solids, Total Fixed Solids, Total Suspended Solids, and Fixed suspended solids for each water sample were found experimentally. Total Solids refer to all solids, both fixed and volatile, found in a water sample. To find the Total Solid Concentration, 10mL of each sample were placed into a previously weighed crucible and then placed into a 105C oven until all water was evaporated, leaving only the solids in the crucibles. Fixed solids make up the inert, or inorganic solids found in a water sample; after the organic material has been sufficiently burnt off from a sample all that remains will be the fixed solids. The concentration of fixed solids was found by placing 25 mL of each sample into crucibles, and then placing the samples in a 550C muffle Furnace for thirty minutes. Suspended solids, both inorganic and organic, are the solids that can be removed from water using a filter. A separate filter was used for each sample in a filtration unit, after the filtration process the filters were placed in a 105C oven until they were dry, leaving behind only the solids that were not dissolved in the water sample. The total concentration of suspended solids includes the concentrations of both fixed and volatile suspended solids. To find the Fixed Suspended Solids, water samples were filtered using the same filtration unit, but the filters were placed in a crucible and into a 550C furnace for thirty minutes. Using the experimentally found values, the total dissolved solid and total volatile solid concentrations were calculated. The weight of the residue left after each process was found by subtracting the weight of the empty dry crucibles or trays from the weight of the crucibles after all water from the samples had been evaporated. For total solid concentration; the sample with the highest concentration was the Influent sample, distilled water (reported as negative) was assumed to have no total solid concentration. The MLSS/MLVSS sample was found to have the highest total fixed solid concentration, while tap water had the lowest concentration of all samples other than the distilled water. The MLSS sample also had the highest total suspended concentration, with the next highest concentration being over three times as small. The average fixed suspended solid concentration of the acceptable values for the effluent were the highest found concentrations, the lake water and distilled water also had concentrations near the effluents. Through human, or equipment error, some values were reported as negative weights, throughout this lab these negative weights will be assumed to mean that no residue was left in the crucible after the experiment. For the total solid experiment, the initial weights were reported to four significant figure, while all other weights were reported to six significant figures.

These initial weights are assumed to have been rounded, resulting in inaccurate results since the solids make up such a small weight compared to the crucibles. Other errors may have been the result of oils form the gloves or skin that came in contact with the crucibles after the initial weighing and after being removed from the oven. These oils would have caused inaccurate weights to be recorded, resulting in erroneous solid concentrations.

Purpose and Objectives

Knowing the concentrations of solids in water samples is important in order to be able to understand what effects the water may have on the environment and human health. A sample with a high concentration of fixed suspended solids can be harmful to the sources ecosystem. The suspended solids decrease water clarity; resulting in less efficient, or even impossible, photosynthesis for plant life. The total suspended solid concentration is also important to know for effluent streams. Since the majority of suspended solid concentration in an effluent stream is made up of the volatile suspended solids, a large suspended solid concentration could result in an oxygen demand high enough to affect the living matter in the receiving stream. Performing these experiments will allow for a better understanding of how concentrations of different solids affect each other and the surrounding water they interact with. In wastewater treatment design the different solid concentrations are important in order to understand how many solids must be removed, and therefore how large of a settling tank or sludge handling facility will be needed. Solid concentrations in effluent streams are also an informative source of information regarding the efficiency of the waste water treatment plant, and are constantly monitored at most treatment facilities.

Theory and Methods This lab focuses on finding both fixed and volatile solid concentrations. Fixed solids are all that will remain after being placed in a furnace with a temperature of 550C. Total solids, comprised of fixed and volatile solids, will remain after being placed in an oven with a temperature of 105C. The lower temperature ensures that only the water molecules are removed from the sample, and that the Organic matter in the sample is not destroyed from the heat. Once the total solid concentration and either the suspended, or dissolved concentration is known the other can be found. This is also true for fixed and volatile solid concentrations, knowing any two of the three concentrations (total, fixed, and volatile) will allow the third concentration to be found through simple addition or subtraction. Hypothesis Knowing how each solid concentration affects and water sample, and the characteristics of the individual samples, rough estimates of the solid concentrations in regards to the other samples is relatively easy. If water is properly distilled and not contaminated before the expirements are run, then there should be little to no solids within the sample. The effluent samples, if properly treated, will have a much lower total concentration of total solids than the influent sample, but will have a higher concentration than the MLSS sample because the solids removed will be compressed into a smaller volume, and the microbes in the MLSS should remain in the treatment facility.

Data and Results

Table 1: Total Solids

Sample Distilled Water Tap Water Lake Claire Influent MLSS/MLVSS Effluent 1a Effluent 1b Effluent 1c Effluent 1d Effluent 1e Effluent 1f Tray ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Crucible ID

Initial Weight (g) 36.3 40.38 39.81 37.55 39.79 38.07 35.27 38.74 43.34 37.97 40.53
Initial Weight (g)

Sample Volume (mL) 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Sample Volume (mL)

time in 105 C oven (min) 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90

time in 550 C oven (min)

Cooling time (min) 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

Cooling time (min)

Final Weight (g) 36.2932 40.3838 39.8118 37.5558 39.7935 38.0745 35.2739 38.7441 43.3413 37.9705 40.5298
Final Weight (g)

Total Solids (mg/L) -680 380 180 580 350 450 390 410 130 50 -20
Total Fixed Solids (mg/L)

Table 2: Total Fixed Solids

Sample

Distilled Water Tap Water Lake Claire Influent MLSS/MLVSS Effluent 1a Effluent 1b Effluent 1c Effluent 1d Effluent 1e Effluent 1f

6 E 3B 5 D7 1 F 2 11 t 1a

61.2684 61.4947 65.7235 59.6786 62.4586 67.5618 48.2768 57.3854 56.3998 44.7162 48.7369

25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 Filtered Sample Volume (mL) 100 100 50 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 time in 105 C oven (min) 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90

30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

61.2603 61.4959 65.7198 59.6816 62.4634 67.5657 48.2782 57.3883 56.4034 44.7209 48.7424 Final Weight (g) 1.1561 1.15 1.1399 1.1227 1.1384 1.134 1.115 1.1515 1.1362 1.16 1.1333

-324 48 -148 120 192 156 56 116 144 188 220 Total Suspended Solids (mg/L) 23 2 4 64 204 8 8 8 4 4 4

Table 3 Fixed Suspended Solids

Sample Distilled Water Tap Water Lake Claire Influent MLSS/MLVSS Effluent 1a Effluent 1b Effluent 1c Effluent 1d Effluent 1e Effluent 1f Tray ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Initial Weight (g) 1.1538 1.1498 1.1397 1.1211 1.1333 1.1338 1.1148 1.1513 1.1361 1.1599 1.1332 Cooling time (min) 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

Table 4: Fixed Suspended Solids

Sample Distilled Water Crucible ID Initial Weight (g) Filtered Sample Volume (mL) time in 550 C oven (min) Cooling time (min) Final Weight (g) Fixed Suspended Solids (mg/L)

Tap Water Lake Claire Influent MLSS/MLVSS Effluent 1a Effluent 1b Effluent 1c Effluent 1d Effluent 1e Effluent 1f

11 3 1 14 5 4 44 10 2 7 8

26.218 38.8054 43.3326 27.5261 40.979 24.5233 23.1465 39.9703 25.5598 42.3511 39.7326

100 100 50 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

26.2207 38.8019 43.3337 27.5242 40.979 24.5215 23.1475 39.9716 25.559 42.3479 39.7332

27 -35 22 -76 0 -72 40 52 -32 -128 24

Table 5: Solids
Sample Distilled Water Total Solids Total Fixed Solids Total Susp. Solids Total dissolved Solids Total Volatile Solids
Fixed Susp. Solids (mg/L)

Tap Water Lake Claire Influent MLSS/MLVSS Effluent 1a Effluent 1b Effluent 1c Effluent 1d Effluent 1e Effluent 1f

-680 380 180 580 350 450 390 410 130 50 -20

-324 48 -148 120 192 156 56 116 144 188 220

23 2 4 64 204 8 8 8 4 4 4

-703 378 176 4112 146 442 382 402 126 46 -24

-356 332 328 460 158 294 334 294 -14 -138 -240

27 -35 22 -76 0 -72 40 52 -32 -128 24

Using experimentally found concentrations of suspended and total solids to find dissolved solid concentrations will not provide accurate dissolved solid concentrations. The effluent samples should have a much higher concentration of dissolved solids compared to the tap water. Due to the weights of the total solid experiment being rounded to two significant figures, the accuracy of the total dissolved solids is lost. The error in each of the experiments can be seen by looking at the effluent solid concentrations. Each of the six effluent samples came from the same source, but the range of the concentrations shows that somewhere in the experiment errors affected the reported data.

Conclusion Although the hypothesis can be confirmed with certain concentrations, overall the experiment resulted in concentrations that do not make sense according to characteristics of water. Distilled water samples reported negative values in the experimentally found concentrations which resulted in the calculated concentrations reporting erroneous data. The total suspended solid experiment provided what seemed to be the most accurate results, other than for distilled water. The mixed liquor which should have the highest suspended solid concentration, was experimentally found to have the highest concentration. The effluent samples also had a much lower concentration comparatively which should be true due to the fact that the suspended solid concentration in effluent streams is so highly regulated and carefully watched.