Water Quality Testing at Ritter Park

On Saturday, April 21st, our class took a field trip to Ritter Park.  One of the many things we did that day was test the water quality of Four Pole Creek near the park's picnic shelter.  We used Vernier Labquests and a variety of sensors to take readings and used the data to determine the overall water quality.  My tests showed the overall water quality to be in the average range.

Steps to test water quality:

 1.  Get a sample of water.  When conditions permit, you can perform tests in the stream (pond, river, etc...) but if not, you can use a bucket to gather the water and perform your tests in a more appropriate place.

2.  Use Labquest and probes to obtain readings for the temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, and turbidity.  To ensure an accurate reading, calibrate probes and clean with distilled water before (and after) tests.

3.  Use the charts and data table found in the Lab manual (see link below) to convert these readings to an overall water quality score.  It can be helpful to create a spreadsheet that will perform the calculations for you, especially if you will be performing multiple tests.
     Water Quality Testing Lab