Environmental Lab Revision

Component MCLG (mg/l) by EPA

Copper 1
Iron 0.3
Zinc 5
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 1
Chlorine 4
Cyanide 0.2
Phosphate 0.1
Silica Not specified
Ammonia 3

Color Comparator : The objective of the color comparator experiment is to determine the
concentration of chemicals in water (not waste water).

Copper: cause gastrointestinal distress for short term exposure, and liver or kidney damage for
long-term exposure. High concentrations of copper can be due to the corrosion of the plumbing
system in new houses.

Iron: mainly the undesirably taste and odor and the corrosion in the piping system.

Zinc: cause stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting if taken for short time. As for long term
effect, cause anemia , damage the pancreas and decrease levels HDL cholesterol.

Nitrate & Nitrite: Nitrate and Nitrite overdose effect mainly infants. High concentrations of
Nitrate can cause Blue baby syndrome in infants under six months or shortness of breath.
Fertilizers are a source of Nitrites.

Chlorine: the risk for certain types of cancer.

Cyanide: According to EPA, cyanide is dangerous. It is very poisonous, cause breathing

difficulties, convulsion, loss of consciousness, brain and heart damage, or even coma and death.

Phosphate: cause health problems, such as kidney damage and osteoporosis.

Silica: There are no known effects of overdose of Silica on human health from water.

Ammonia: Short-term exposure cause increase in blood pressure and induce acidosis. Long-term
exposure cause a decrease in body mass, calcium content and blood pH. Ammonia is not
included in the EPA standards.

Fluoride: bone fractures in adults, tooth decay. Fluoride is found in toothpaste and can cause
bone disease

Cadmium: kidney damage

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Chromium: Chromium-6 is more toxic and poses potential health risks. allergic dermatitis.
chromium-6 as likely to be carcinogenic to humans when ingested.

Selenium: hair or fingernail losses, numbness in fingers or toes, or problems with their
circulation

Lead: delays in physical and mental development for infants, Adults who drink this water over
many years could develop kidney problems or high blood pressures

Positive Hydrogen: The Positive Hydrogen or pH is the measure of the concentration of H+ ions.
The pH ranges from 0 to 14. The normal range for water pH is 6.5 to 8.5. It is important to check
the pH of water in all cases because water with pH < 6.5 is acidic and corrosive and dangerous
for humans. As for a water with pH> 8.5 is considered hard which is not dangerous but can cause
aesthetic problems.

Ammonia: Ammonia is widely used and common in our life but can be hazardous. Ammonia
gets into water by agriculture runoffs (fertilizers). It can be corrosive to some copper plumbing
systems and it isn't regulated by drinking water standards. It is not proved to cause cancer or not
long term illness. However, it is irritant to the respiratory tract and with short term exposure of
high concentrations might cause increase blood pressure and acidosis.

Dissolved Oxygen: how much you have oxygen in water ( for living species to survive).
Dissolved oxygen is necessary for good water quality. Adequate oxygen levels needs to be
provided for aerobic life forms. As dissolved oxygen levels in water drop below 5.0 mg/l, aquatic
life is put in danger. Oxygen levels that remain below 1-2 mg/l for a few hours can result in large
fish kills. However, if water contains high concentrations of Dissolved oxygen, too many
bacteria in the area may overpopulate, using DO in great amounts till finally depleting it.
Disadvantage: speeds up the corrosion.

Hazen Scale: Hazen scale is a color scale to evaluate the pollution levels in both water and waste
water. Water color is important as it indicates source of water and pollutants.

Alkalinity: to find how basic the solution is. Alkalinity is the quantitative capacity of water to
neutralize an acid; that is, the measure of how much acid can be added to a liquid without
causing a significant change in pH. The higher the alkalinity, the more the water can resist pH
changes. For example, higher alkalinity levels in surface waters, will buffer acid rain and other
acid wastes which prevent pH changes which is harmful for the aquatic life.
Hardness : presence of Ca and Mg

1- High levels of hardness are indicated by high total dissolved solids concentration
2- Both alkalinity and hardness are determined by the amount of Calcium and Magnesium in
water.
3- Calcium deteriorates household machineries.

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Total dissolved solids (TDS):

- The type of crucible used for the TDS experiment is made of Porcelain

- The accepted TDS values is 500ppm

Noise Pollution:

1) Sound pollution:
- The equivalent continuous sound level is dependent on the time of exposure.
- Sound pollution>90 dB affects the health.

SEL, Sound Exposure Level, is a standardized measure of a single sound event, expressed in
decibels. All sound energy in the event is integrated over one second.

Average time of 8 hrs . we use the A-weighted: low

fast: all fluctuations are taken - slow: steady state

Leq , Equivalent Continuous Sound Pressure Level: average of all SELs

Sound is simply Pressure. Sound waves spread out in all directions from the original source;
getting weaker the further they go.
The ear picks up these vibrations and converts these pressure waves into electrical impulses that
are carried to the brain to be "interpreted" as sounds.
the Decibel is a logarithmic scale of pressure produced to allow a better correlation between
what we hear and the scales we use.
Noise is unwanted sound measured with a sound level meter. Noise testing can determine what a
person exposure to noise is and if it represents a health hazard.

Air Pollution:
1) Air pollutants are divided into: Gas, Particulate, and Vapor
particulates:
1. aerosols :solid of microscopic size
2. dust: larger masses suspended in air
3. smoke: incomplete combustion of organic material
4. fume: condensation from gaseous phase
5. mist: liquid droplets seen by naked eye

pollution: >> inhalable 100 microns

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>> thoracic 30 microns

>> respirable 12 microns

2) Air Pollution:
- Particle pollution includes "inhalable coarse particles," with diameters 2.5<d<10
micrometers and "fine particles," with diameters d< 2.5 micrometers.
- Particles larger than 10 micrometers (sand and large dust) are not regulated by EPA.

TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon)test

The output of the TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon)test is to find the Absorbance

Chemical Oxygen Demand -COD: measuring amount of organic compound that uses oxygen in
water

1) You should know the COD experiment procedure

Biochemical Oxygen Demand -BOD: the amount of oxygen needed by bacteria to breakdown
organic material in water.

1) BOD test:
- The BOD5 is the Biochemical oxygen demand after 5 days of incubation.
- The dissolved solids that impose BOD are Volatile solids

COD>BOD

Flocculation:

The water treatment process involves four steps, in this order :

1. coagulation & flocculation
2. sedimentation
3. filtration
4. disinfection.

Coagulation and flocculation processes are used to separate the suspended solids from the water.
You should know the Flocculation test procedure + significance (fine particulates are caused to clump
together into a floc)

Settling Column test:

1) speed of particles to settle. We are interested to find how much time it needs to have high
settling particles TS.

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2) The settling column is (plexiglass, 3 in diameter and more than 5 sampling ports).

Coliform:
we use coliform ( cheap and easy to do) to find pathogens in water (bacteria, viruses, protosoa)
that cause diseases.
Coliform are from animal waste and humans.
2 types: total coliform
fecal coliform (60-90% of total coliform)
E-coli: fecal coliform that causes diarrhea.

Bacteria test: Fecal coli forms are from Feces , guts

Soil Characteristics:
TDR probes: time domain reflectometer
1- The use of TDR probes can be used to reflect the seepage of fertilizers into the Ground water.
2- TDR probes can be installed either vertically or horizontally

Part IV DoE

DOE Problem:

- Identify the levels

- Identify the factor

- Identify the goal

- Identify the outcome of the experiment

- Identify the number of experiments needed

- Determine the effect between the factors (Full Factorial Design, and Fractional Factorial Design)

Find the Effect of the distance, depth and both on the required concentration

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