Water Sample Testing;

Today water samples were tested for its phosphate contents, salt contents and pH contents. Here are the results from testing so far.

                                                                                                                                                    

The first test done was the phosphate test. This was done using phosphate strips.

Phosphate Testing	Test 1(ppm)	Test 2(ppm)	Average (ppm)
Area 1	25	25	25
Area 2	25	25	25
Area 3	25	10	17.5

Phosphate strips

The next test done was to test the water samples pH. This was done using a pH probe

pH testing	Test 1	Test 2	Average
Area 1	6.9	6.8	6.8
Area 2	6.9	6.7	6.8
Area 3	7	6.8	6.9

pH probe

The final test, was testing the water samples for salt content. This was done using silver nitrate and a conductivity probe. When silver nitrate is poured into the sample water if there is a white precipitate(silver chloride) it means there is salt content in the water. Also when depositing of the silver nitrate DO NOT POUR IT DOWN THE DRAIN. Silver nitrate is harmful to the marine life so you must ensure you put waste products into a waste bucket and ensure it is disposed of properly.

Silver nitrate testing	Results
Area 1	A mild silver chloride precipitate formed when the water samples came into contact with the silver nitrate.
Area 2	A mild silver chloride precipitate formed when the water samples came into contact with the silver nitrate.
Area 3	A mild silver chloride precipitate formed when the water samples came into contact with the silver nitrate.

After this was done the salt content was then measured using a conductivity probe.

Conductivity probe	Test 1(ppm)	Test 2(ppm)	Average(ppm)
Tap water	220		220
Area 1	186	184	185
Area 2	206	208	207
Area 3	182	179	181

Problems faced throughout the testing

When testing for the salt content of the water samples problems arrose while testing the water with silver nitrate. The silver nitrate was inconsistent in sample area number 1. The first test formed massive amounts of silver nitrate.However, this was countered by the conductivity probe as it showed a low salt content. The silver nitrate test had to be redone on a separate day and the results supplemented the conductivity tests. There was low amounts of precipitate forming in the test tube 1(containing water from sample area 1) which the conductivity probe had predicted twice.

Test tube 1(far left) showed high levels of salt