Threshold Limits for River Water and the Chesapeake Bay

[deleted-389997]

I have constantly searched and the only thing that I have found is copper and lead threshold limits. I was hoping if anyone knew a site that clearly explained threshold limits and how to find them as I am testing river water. Also, I'm sure that since the Chesapeake Bay is not a river, but a bay, it will have different threshold limits for the amount of a substance can be in the water before causing harm. I have searched endlessly for this information and have constantly stared blankly at the EPA's guidelines and PA's guidelines in which I cannot understand. If it helps at all I am testing for Phosphates, Nitrates, pH, Dissolved Oxygen Levels, (Water Testing Kit for the next few)-> pesticides, bacteria, chlorine, and hardness, etc., (Dissolved Metals Testing Kit for the next few)-> zinc, lead, copper, iron, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc. If you could help me find a site that shows the threshold limits for each of these and explain what they mean, I would sincerely appreciate it. Thank you so much!

[deleted-389997]

So, here is my main problem... If I throw out 5 buckets for each of my 5 test sites along the three bodies of water, how would I seal the buckets to transport them back to my testing area and when I buy the buckets to hold the water for sampling, are the buckets already sanitized and if not would that influence my results as to what the river water contains? Also, how many test tubes will I need to buy or do they come with the various water testing kits? In addition to that, would it influence my results if I reused the test tubes for another sample of the water from my bucket? If the buckets are not sanitized, is there a sanitizing process I could do in order to not influence my results?

[deleted-357169]

Hello Bridget,

What a great project idea! I have input on one of your questions.

I think one thing you could do is to test tap water in the same type of bucket you are using to collect your samples. This could act as a sort of control. You may also want to obtain buckets or containers that have lids for transportation instead of open buckets.

I found the USGS Field Manual, which has an enormous amount of information about collecting water samples and how to avoid contamination. You may want to take a look through this manual and see if it helps. It is very comprehensive. https://water.usgs.gov/owq/FieldManual/ ... ap4_v2.pdf

Definitely read section: 4.0.2

Hope this helps!

Good Luck!
AJ

[donnahardy2]

Hi Bridget_Reheard,

Welcome to Science Buddies@ Water quality is an excellent topic for a science project and it’s great that you are doing your background research.

Here is the EPA guidelines for levels of toxic chemicals for both freshwater and saltwater. The list includes a variety of toxic metals, fertilize, pesticides and herbicides. These are the limits that the EPA has established that are compatible for aquatic and animal life. .

https://www.epa.gov/wqc/national-recomm ... eria-table

Here are the limits for drinking water:

https://www.epa.gov/dwstandardsregulati ... -chemicals.

It sounds like you have picked a fairly vast topic for your science project. Is there a specific environmental problem you are investigating? What is the purpose of your project? If you have not identified a specific problem, perhaps you could search for a local environmental problem, perhaps a lake or stream that is contaminated with a specific pollutant.
Please post again if you have any questions.

Donna Hardy

[deleted-71603]

Hello. Please post all questions on your topic to a single thread so that our experts can best help you based on what has already been discussed.

Good luck, and thanks for using Science Buddies!

[deleted-389997]

Thank you all for replying! It really helped me out! Sorry I wasn't specific but I am testing the Juniata River, the Susquehanna River, and the Chesapeake Bay for multiple things such as pH, Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen, Heavy Toxic Metals, Phosphates, Nitrates/Nitrites, and other chemicals or elements that are present in the water above their threshold limit. My question was, what is the impact of the presence of chemicals in the Juniata River, Susquehanna River, and eventually the Chesapeake Bay and which body of water is the most polluted? My hypothesis was, if multiple water testing kits are used to identify multiple chemicals, then it will be seen that all three bodies of water being tested suffer from pollution, but the Chesapeake Bay will have the highest amount of toxins. I really appreciate all of the help you all gave though! I really needed it! Thanks so much!

-Bridget

[deleted-389997]

Also, what is the difference between chronic and acute and which one should I use? Is ug/L the same as ppb?

[donnahardy2]

Hi,

Thanks for the additional description of your research question.. This sounds like an excellent project.

Yes, ug/L is equal to ppb.

Good question. Acute toxicity describes the effects of a substance within 24 hours; chronic toxicity is measured over a longer period of time, from weeks to months. The Wikipedia articles on these topics are pretty good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_toxicity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_toxicity

Have you done any background research to find out what kind of testing government agencies and researchers have done on these bodies of water? What kinds of pollution are you expecting?

Donna