north creek water quality prepared by jon rogers and carie mccoy
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North Creek Water Quality
Prepared by Jon Rogers and Carie McCoy
Dr. Jaffe’s Environmental Chemistry Lab Class
January 21st – February 3rd, 2005
North Creek• Adjacent to the
UWB/CCC Campus in the Sammamish Valley of King County, WA
• Approximate latitude and longitude: 47o 45’ 21” N 122o 11’ 20”W
• Upstream Site: East of exit number 24 off I-405
• Downstream Site: Past the Boardwalk in the UWB/CCC Wetlands
Goals
• Determine if the wetland helps contribute to improved water quality.
• To determine if North Creek complies with state standards.
Study Parameters• pH: effects chemical and biological processes which occur in an
aquatic environment• Conductivity: measures ionic potential of the waterway• Temperature: influences rates of chemical and biological processes • Dissolved Oxygen (DO): concentration of oxygen which is in a
dissolved form in the water• Stream Flow: volume of water moving over a designated point at a
fixed period of time• Turbidity: measured amount of suspended sediments in the water• Nitrates: measure of nitrogen as nitrate (N03-N) in the water
• Phosphates: measure of phosphorous as phosphate (PO4-P) in the water
Effects of Parameters• pH: if pH is too acidic or alkaline than the water becomes
inhabitable by aquatic life (desired pH range 6.5-8.0)• Conductivity: effects the buffering capacity of the water• Temperature: influences amount of DO (optimal <20o)• DO: form of oxygen available for aquatic life• Stream Flow: help determine amount of impervious surface area in
the watershed• Turbidity: increased turbidity may cause damage to fish gills,
suffocating them• Nitrates: can determine amount of fertilizer runoff entering the
stream (septic runoff is also a source)• Phosphates: corallites with the amount of soaps and detergents in
the water
Profiling a stream
• Measure the width of the stream channel
• At equal intervals of width (0.5 m) measure stream death
• Post a reference point for future depth measurements
Significant Results• Flow
– Statistically significant difference (P=.01) in flow from the two sites
– Greater stream flow at the upstream site than downstream
– Possible reason is the water absorbing quality of the wetland
– Rain event prior to data collection and approximately 0.03 cm of precipitation during our survey
Upstream Site
-60.0
-50.0
-40.0
-30.0
-20.0
-10.0
0.00.0 100.0 200.0 300.0 400.0 500.0 600.0 700.0
width (cm)
dept
h (c
m)
profile 1-21profile 1-24profile 1-27profile 1-28profile 1-31profile 2-3
Downstream Site
-45.0
-40.0
-35.0
-30.0
-25.0
-20.0
-15.0
-10.0
-5.0
0.00.0 100.0 200.0 300.0 400.0 500.0 600.0 700.0
width (cm)
dept
h (c
m)
profile 1-21profile 1-24profile 1-27profile 1-28profile 1-31profile 2-3
Statistical Runner Up
• Conductivity– Using a paired T-test
we verified a P value of P=0.065
– Almost a significant difference. Desire P<0.05
– What if the study had a longer duration?
– Is there an outlier?
Comparison of Conductivity on an Upstreamand Downstream site
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
0 2 4 6 8
Collection number
Con
duct
ivity
(µs)
Upstream
Dow nstream
Conductivity
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
140.00
160.00
180.00
200.00
Mea
n va
lue
(µs)
Upstream
Dow nstream
Conclusions
• We found the wetland does help absorb runoff during rain events
• At the time of our study, the area of North Creek we evaluated does comply with Washington State Department of Ecology Standards for a class A stream
• Stream quality may change during other seasons
Questions?
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