Deanna - Water, Seds, and Lab

Water Sampling
 The water sample I gathered was from a fresh water pond on a private property.

Nice pond and dock.

I laid down on the dock and hung over the edge to fill my bottles. And yes, I rinsed them out first and kept them cool.

Scarlett and I collecting samples.

 The water seemed pretty clear; however, it looked like weak tea when it was in a clear bottle. It did rain earlier in the day, but I don't think it really affected the sample. Then it was off to the lab...

TSS Lab
This was a fun and interesting lab! We got to gather our samples and then test them!

Dr. Woodall giving a lesson on proper use of the refractometer.

 
The first test I ran was a salinity test. As expected, the salinity was zero in my sample. I determined this by using a portable refractometer. It was quite simple actually. Just put a few drops of the sample on a clean, dry stage, close the top, look through the eye piece, and there inside is a line with a number and that is the salinity.

The second test was to determine how much suspended solids where in the sample. I got to use a HACH  2100N Turbidimeter to test my sample. Actually, I got to test my sample 5 times. Then took the 3 middle readings, (not then highest or the lowest reading), and found the average of the three readings were 5.75 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units). This number is part of an equation that will tell what the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) (mg/L) are in my sample.

The third part of the lab was to filter the sample by pouring it through a  47 mm 1.5 um Whatman microfiber filter (a filter built into a glass fitting) and catch the sediment for a mass. It wasn't actually just pouring it over a filter, it was much more involved than that.

Filtration set-up.

As you can see by the picture above, the whole set up was somewhat involved. We used a vacuum to help pull the sample through two filters. The Whatman and another filter that was used to collect the sediments in our samples. The dried sediments will be weighed and go into the equation to figure TSS in the sample.

Sediment gathering
I went a little north of the Granada beach ramp to collect my sediment sample. I found an area that had approximately 25% vegetation coverage in the middle of the sand dune where it leveled off a bit before becoming a dune again.

1x1 m sample area

 I scooped up 2 cups of the top one inch of sediments near the plants within a one by one meter area. It was primarily grasses on the plot. Oh, and the stinging nettle that got me was there too! OUCH!! It was easy to grab the control sample, since I had minimal vegetation.

 
I will be drying it out for class so the sieving can begin. Shake , shake, shake...and shake some more!