pH+of+Water+vs.+Plant+Growth

=pH of Water vs. Plant Growth= Gabriele Rociunas-Englert, Laura Lee, and Clara Pelaez

Abstract:
We decided to do our watershed project on the effects of acid rain because it is an important issue in our current events. We approached this project by first learning about the background of acid rain so that we would know what we were dealing with. We wanted to completely understand what our project was about. By taking the pH of the different water areas in Flat Rock Brook and comparing them to the plant life around those areas, we realized how the acidity of the water affects plant life. Although our results don't show the most extreme effects of acid rain, we could still see how it still had an important role in the environment. By looking at our results, we concluded that the acidity of the water affects the plant's growth.

**Statement:**
The acidity of the water will have effects on the plant growth.

**Importance:**
Our experiment is important because we’re studying the pH of the water and how it affects the plant life around it. By knowing this, we know the effects that water has on the plant growth.

**Background:**
Acid rain is a destructive form of pollution. Aspects of the environment, such as forests, trees, lakes, animals, and plants, all suffer from the effects of acid rain. Acid rain is an occurrence where dangerous chemicals, such as sulfur dioxide, are brought from the atmosphere and then brought back into the environment through rain, sleet, or snow. The presence of the chemicals makes the water's acidity increase. We have learned that acid rain has been linked to a lot of the damage in the environment.

The origin of acid rain was during the 1730s, at the height of the industrial revolution. It was noticed to be a problem during the 1960s and has gotten much worse. The problem has gotten worse in the rural areas because of the tall chimneys on factories, which allows wind to transport all the pollutants to different areas and spread the bad chemicals.

The term "acid rain" is commonly used to mean the deposition of acidic components in rain, snow, fog, dew, or dry particles. The pH scale is from 0 to 14. Distilled water, which contains no carbon dioxide, has a neutral pH of 7. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acid, and those with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline (or basic). The extra acidity in rain comes from the reaction of air pollutants, primarily sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, with water in the air to form strong acids (like sulfuric and nitric acid). The main sources of these pollutants are vehicles and industrial and power-generating plants.

"Normal" rainfall is not fully neutral; it is slightly acidic because of the presence of dissolved carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is what is found in soda pop. The pH of "normal" rain is given the pH of 5.6. However, scientists now believe that the pH of rain may vary from 5.6 to a low of 4.5 with the average value of 5.0, which is becoming more and more acidic. Acid rain or acid snow is a direct result of the method that the atmosphere cleans itself. The tiny droplets of water that make up clouds continuously capture suspended solid particles and gases in the atmosphere. The gases of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides are chemically converted into sulfuric and nitric acids.

Acid rain affects many lakes. A lake polluted by acid rain will support only the hardiest species. Fish die off, and that removes the main source of food for birds. Also, birds can die from eating "toxic" fish and insects. Just as birds can be killed from eating toxic fish, fish can die from eating animals that are toxic. Acid rain can even kill fish before they are born. Another long term on bodies of water in forests is that even if changes in pH are relatively small, large quantities of calcium and magnesium are lost from the soil and exported by drainage water and this can result in a delayed recovery of soil and stream water chemistry.

Flat Rock Brook is located in an area surrounded by houses. This can cause some of the wastes from cars or fertilizers to run into the nature sanctuary and cause the decomposition of the leaves. What we wanted to find out with our experiment was whether or not the rise of acidity in the water can affect the growth of plants around that area. We wanted our results to be accurate, so we tested two different areas that were far enough apart for there to be a difference. Our final observation was to see which water and its pH had the most growth of plants and which had the least.

pH scale scale:
([|http://www.eoearth.org/image/Ph_scale.gif)]

Acid Rain picture:
([|http://www.eoearth.org/image/Lake_acidification.jpg)]

**Procedure:**
1. First we went to the Quarry Pond 2. We took the pH of the shallow and deeper ends of the Quarry Pond using the pH meter 3. Afterwards, we took pictures of the plant life surrounding each area 4. Next, we went to McFadden Pond 5. We took the pH of the shallow and deeper ends of the McFadden Pond using the pH meter 6. Then we took pictures of the plant life surrounding each area 7. We made observations at which site had the most plant life and it's corresponding pH

Materials:
- Vernier Labpro - pH probe - Solution to clean pH probe - Tablet with LoggerPro system - Camera

**Methods (Data Collecting):**
We decided to test the water at Flat Rock Brook, so we took all our equipment to each site. We decided to test two ponds, the Quarry Pond and the McFadden Pond. For both ponds, Quarry and McFadden, we tested the water in different kinds of conditions. First, at Quarry Pond, we tested a deeper area that was still, and then tested a shallow area that was also still. Next, at McFadden Pond, we tested a shallow area that had fast moving water, and then tested a deeper area that was slow moving.
 * 1st site: Quarry Pond - Deeper area, still water
 * 2nd site: Quarry Pond - Shallow area, still water
 * 3rd site: McFadden Pond - Shallow area, fast moving water
 * 4th site: McFadden Pond - Deeper area, slow moving water

Pictures of our sites:
Flat Rock Brook full Trail Map (www.flatrockbrook.org/features/trail.html) Sites 1 and 2 at Quarry Pond Sites 3 and 4 at McFadden Pond

Plant Life:
Site 1 - Quarry Pond: deeper end, still water Site 2 - Quarry Pond: shallow end, still water Site 3 - McFadden Pond: shallow end, fast moving water Site 4 - McFadden Pond: deeper end, slow moving water

Data:
Site 2 Data: Site 3 Data: Site 4 Data:**
 * Site 1 Data:

Analysis:
We tested the pH with a pH meter that was connected to our tablet using the LoggerPro System. We let the pH meter stay in the water for 30 seconds. The pH of each of site fluctuated as the meter stayed in the water longer. We made graphs of the rise of pH for each site (look under data), and then took the averages to find the average pH for each site. Our original hypothesis was that the areas closer to the houses would be more acidic, however, that proved to not be the case. Although each of the sites was slightly acidic, they were very close to being neutral.

For site 1, there was a fluctuation in the pH. It was in the range of 6.54 to 6.68 in the 30 seconds the probe was in the water. The average of the data is 6.65, which is slightly acidic.

For site 2, there was also a fluctuation in the pH. It was in the range of 6.39 to 6.67 in the 30 seconds the probe was in the water. The average of the data is 6.44, which is slightly acidic as well.

For site 3, there was an increase in the pH. It was in the range of 5.64 to 6.77 in the 30 seconds the probe was in the water. The average of the data is 6.36, which is slightly less than neutral, making it slightly acidic. We believe that there was such a range because at this site there was rushing water, making the water’s pH fluctuate.

For site 4, there was a steady pH. It was in a range of 6.78 to 6.94 in the 30 seconds the probe was in the water. The average of the data is 6.88, which is very close to being neutral. The water at this site has affected the water in site 3, because this water, which is close to being neutral, is flowing into site 3.

During our testing in May, it was relatively warm. However, we went right after it was raining throughout the week, which must have diluted the water, because the pH levels were still acidic, but closer to neutral.

Discussion:
As we looked at our data, we discovered that the pH levels of all four sites were slightly acidic, but very close to neutral. On a large scale they were all close to each other, but when you looked at all the pH closely, you can see that there are slight differences. There could be a couple causes for this. One is that there was a heavy rainfall the week before we went to Flat Rock Brook which could have diluted the water.

Site 3 had the most acidic water out of all the other sites which was noticeable because there wasn't much plant life around it. Site 4 was almost neutral. The water in these two areas flowed into each other, which caused the acidity of site 3 to lessen. Site 1 and 4 had the most visible plant life which makes sense because the average pH of these two sites was very close to 7 on the pH scale, which is a neutral.

The shallow parts of the ponds were more acidic compared to the deeper parts because there is more water in that area that mixes in. This makes it more diluted.

Because of all this, we determined that the acidity of the water really does affect the plant life around it.

Below is another scale of pH that shows what the normal pH of water should be. This shows that usually water is neutral, at a pH from 6 to 8. Acid rain affects the water so that the pH ranges from 1-5, turning the water extremely acidic. However, normal participation changes the pH to 6 to 4, also making it more acidic then normal stream water. This can explain why the water was a little bit acidic after rainfall. Although the pH is very close to neutral (7) which is ideal for plant life, the rain changes the pH slightly. However, the water stays mostly neutral. ([|http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/phdiagram.html)]

Possible Sources of Error:
There could be different possible sources of error during our collection of data. Some errors that could have happen include that the pH probe, because the pH was fluctuating a lot, might have not been clean enough from previous usage. We also could've left the probe in the water for a longer period of time.

Conclusion:
From our experiment, we can conclude that Flat Rock Brook has not recently experienced extreme conditions of acid rain. The water in all four sites was slightly acidic, but very close to being neutral. We figured, however, the sites that are less acidic have more plant life then the ones with a higher acidity, proving that the pH of water affects the plant life around the water. Although all the water at Flat Rock Brook is close to being neutral, the gradual rise of pH had affect on the plant life. The rises of the pH in the lakes can include leaf decomposition or chemical sources like acid rain and fertilizers, which makes it harder for the plants to grow. We can conclude that Flat Rock Brook is kept in healthy condition because the pH levels of the two lakes are not in extreme acidic conditions. Although the effects of acid rain have not be shown in Flat Rock Brook, if the pollution continues to grow around it's area, there is a great possibility that the nature sanctuary will see rises in the pH and the noticeable affects in plant growth.

What can you do to help?
Acid Rain can be prevented. If humans want to help the environment, they need to do their part in cleaning it up. Some prevention could be reducing air pollution by increasing energy efficiency, reducing coal use and increasing the use of natural gas and renewable resources. People can also use a low-sulfur coal as an alternative when they burn coal. The bigger picture is removing SO2 and NO particles from smokestack gases from industrial plants. NO should also be removed from motor vehicle exhaust. With all these prevention methods, people could clean the areas where acid rain is already caused damage to the environment.

References:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/acidrain/2.html http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/acid_rain.html [|http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/phdiagram.html] [|http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/http://www.geocities.com/narilily/trees.html] [|http://hey-ralph911.tripod.com/id17.html] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/272/5259/244http://www.angelfire.com/ks3/acidrainreport/history2.html