Determining pH and Buffering Capacity of Water in a Stream.
The purpose of this lab was to determine the pH and buffering capacity along the length of a stream and then figure out whether or not they remained constant and if they had a relationship. Water from the stream was sampled from downstream, midstream and upstream. We used a pH meter to find the pH of each sample. After that we used the pH number to calculate the buffering capacity. After we were done, we found that the water tested was more basic the further down stream it was from. As the pH increased so did the buffering capacity.
Introduction:.
The pH of water extracted from samples of 10 hardwoods trees and 9 softwoods trees ranged from 4.00 to 5.86 for hardwood and 4.02 to 5.82 for softwood. It was determined that the pH was affected by wood flour in each species. The data showed a strong correlation between gel time of wood flour and both pH and acid buffering capacity of water extracted from the trees. The purpose of this study was to see how the wood in trees affects the pH of water. (Johns, 1980) The source of pH decline in four streams from northern Sweden during the autumn of 1996 was measured. The pH dropped by between 1·0 and 2·4 units due to a summer drought. Organic carbon was found to be the most important driving mechanism of the pH decline. Sulphate, however, was found to be relatively more important during these autumn months than during spring months. The purpose of this study was to see how floods and droughts affect the pH of streams. (Laudon, 2002) The effects of road-deicing salt on soil and water were studied in five small forests in southeast Sweden. The use of deicing salt on roads applied during the winter season 1998/99 had a profound effect on the soil and stream water pH. The purpose of this study was to find out if road-deicing salt affects the pH of soil and water. (Löfgren, 2001).