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Water Quality of Lake Fred

Andrew Dicken

SUST 2100

Professor Tait Chirenje

Stockton University
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Abstract:

Water quality testing and comparison is essential to monitoring water quality and

preventing ecological or human harm. In this experiment, water quality testing of lake Fred was

conducted and compared with other bodies of water in New Jersey. It was found that

Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Salinity, and turbidity was either equal to or below the average

river basins in New Jersey. Thus, it can be concluded that lake Fred is not as polluted as other

New Jersey basins, but more measuring and a wider parameters must be used to get a more

comprehensive and certain conclusion.

Table of Contents:

Abstract 2

Figure 1 4

Table 1 4

Introduction 3

Methods 3

Results 4

Discussion 5

Conclusion 5

References 6
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Introduction:

Water quality and water quality testing is very important when it comes to the local

ecosystem and the enviroment. It can explain a lot of phenomena within the body of water, as

well as in the surrounding area. These impacts can directly or indirectly affect human health.

This is why it is important to test water quality using a wide variety of metrics to get the broadest

and fullest view of the water quality. In the testing of lake Fred, Temperature, Salinity (PPT),

Dissolved Oxygen(DO) (% and Mg/L), Pressure(mmHg), and Turbidity(Fnu) were measured.

Temperature can affect the type of wildlife living in the lake as well as the amount of DO in the

lake. Salinity measures the amount of salts in the water, which can lower plant growth and thus

erode soil. DO affects the ability for fish to breathe, microorganisms to decompose, and the

amount of algae to grow due to phosphorous. More pressure of the lake allows the lake to hold

more DO. Turbidity can harm fish and reduce their population, block sunlight for photosysthesis,

and carry pullutants like heavy metals and bacteria. These metrics can be analysized and

compared to water quality standards do deduce if the water quality is at or above the standard,

below, or lacking in a specific parameter.

Method:

To measure the water quality, we used the EXO Multiparameter probe. This instrament

took all of our measurements, including temperature, salinity, DO, pressure, and turbidity.

Turbidity is measured in FNU, which meaures the light scattered at 90 degree angles. This is far
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more accurate than using a succi disk, as it is very subjective. Salinity is measured by the

conductivity of the water by the probe.

Results:

Figure 1

Rank Site X Long. Y Lat. Temp Salinity DO DO Depth Pressure Turb.

1 1 -74.5287 39.49555 15.986 0.06 96.00% 9.47 0.3 770.4 1

2 2 -74.5299 39.49427 14.196 0.06 79% 8.06 0.465 770.3 0.23

3 3 -74.533 39.49415 12.396 0.08 72% 7.67 0.57 770.3 0.25

4 4 -74.5361 39.4957 13.52 0.06 90% 9.39 0.575 770.4 13.87

5 5 -74.5311 39.4969 18.508 0.06 117% 10.95 0.46 770.4 1.22

Celcius PPT % Mg/L mmHg Fnu

Table 1
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Discussion:

The results taken here are ultimatly meaningless without comparison, or without points of

reference. The temperature of lake Fred, on average, is about 15 degrees in October. In

comparison to other water basins in New Jersey around the same time, the average is below 15

degrees, around 11 degrees. This is a relativly small difference, and may be due to the

shallowness of lake Fred. Dissolved Oxygen in lake Fred is about 9.5 Mg/L on average. In the

same water basins, the average is about 10 Mg/L, which is very similar. Moving on, the turbidity

of lake Fred compared to other river basins in New Jersey is a lot less. The average turbidity in

Fred is about 3.3Fnu, but most likely even less than that as the measurment of 13.87 Fnu may be

an outlier. In the basins, it is around 33 Fnu on average. This is about ten times as turbid as lake

Fred. Finally, the salinity of lake fred is about .06ppt. Data given is in uS/cm, and averages

around 400. Converting this to ppt comes out to around .25ppt, which is about four times as salty

than lake Fred.

Conclusion:

From the data collected, which is very limited in terms of variety and quantity, it can be

concluded that lake Fred is most likely not polluted. The data compared to other basins in New

Jersey show that Fred is equal or less polluted. However, there are many other factors that have

not been tested and thus this conclusion is not certain. To get a more accurate and full picture,
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data should be taken year round, and with more parameters such as: pH, metals, and organics.

With this data, a more sound conclusion can be made.

References:

Current Conditions for New Jersey: Water Quality. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2018, from

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/current/?type=qw&group_key=basin_cdStockton

University
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