Transcript Poster
Analysis of Water Quality: Comparing Well Water, Spring Water, Tap Water, and Bottled Water Jarad Shetters Biology Department of Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN 38505 Introduction Thousands of cases of water-borne diseases occur every year, many of them fatal (Gowd 2005). You can’t see, smell or taste most water contaminants, so water testing is imperative for those concerned with health and wellness. With this easy all-in-one water testing kits, you’ll get fast, accurate results you can depend on, along with some welldeserved peace of mind. Despite modern facilities, water remains an all-too-common source of both acute and chronic illness, simply because it is by far the most ingested substance on the planet (Maillard et al. 2005). Chronic exposure to chemical contaminants is particularly dangerous and these toxins are highly insidious, causing damage over months and years, often withserious or deadly effects (Evans et al.2005). Objective & Hypothesis Objective: To test the levels of contaminants in well water, tap water, and bottled water. Hypothesis: Bottled water will contain less amounts of contaminants than either well water or tap water. Null hypothesis: Bottled water, well water and tap water contain similar amounts of contaminants. Results •Of the four water sources sampled well water was the most contaminated. A seen by Tuthill et al. this may be due to the effluent from septic systems. When septic systems effluent moves through soil for a sufficient time, bacteria and other contaminants can get into the groundwater and contaminate the drinking water. Well water tested positive for bacteria and pesticides and the other three sources tested negative. The tap water which came from a water fountain at Tennessee Tech University was surprisingly clean. Conclusion Well water tested positive for bacteria and pesticides Tap water had low amount of lead present. Bottled water was the cleanest of all water sources. Acknowledgements •Dr. Morgan for his help in this semester long process Methods & Materials Methods Samples where taken from the water fountain at Pennebaker Hall at Tennessee Tech University, my parents house in Decherd, TN a spring on Seven Springs Rd. and from a bottle of Aquafina water. Materials Watersafe All-In-One Test Kit