Municipal Water E Fair Ideas for Science Fair Projects

Wind Turbine Science Fair Experiments for PicoTurbine Windmill	Power House Experiments Science Kit	SCG-125 Snap Circuits Green Alternative Energy
Ages 10 thru College	Ages 12 thru High School	Age 8 and up

Name: Belen
Grade Level 7th
Awards: Mid Columbia Science Fair. Distinction for Creativity. Washington State Science and Engineering Fair,second place ribbon.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the pH level in municipal drinking water vs. domestic well water. 

I became interested in this idea when I heard that drinking water with too high of a pH was dangerous for people. 

The information gained from this experiment should be useful to local residents showing how acidic or basic their water is. This may also be useful to homeowners by knowing that if their water is further away from neutral it may be corrosive to metals or anything it may touch.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that domestic well water would have a greater pH than municipal water. 

I based my hypothesis on a statement by Rick Poulin from Rick Poulin Well Drilling in which he stated, “Most well water has a greater pH reading than municipal water because well water does not get the treatment that municipal water does, as in chlorine and other water purifiers.”

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were: 

* The same number of water samples (cold municipal water/ domestic well water 40 samples of each)
* The 8 large containers (to carry the water)
* The Bricks Table (pH meter) 
* The amount of water collected in each test tube (municipal water/ domestic well water)
* The water temperature (20 degrees Celsius)
* The spoon

The manipulated variable was whether water was from a municipal source or a domestic well.

The responding variable was the pH level in the Water. 

To measure the responding variable a bricks table will be used to measure the pH (level of acid or base) in each sample.

MATERIALS

PROCEDURES

1. Gather 40 samples of cold municipal water in 40 test tubes 10 samples each from homes in the North, South, East, and West.
2. Gather 40 samples of cold domestic well water in 40 test tubes 10 samples each from homes in the North, South, East, and West.
3. Measure the temperatures of the water so all samples are the same
4. The samples can be 20 degrees Celsius
5. Collect 60ml pf water for your 10 samples of your total 40 samples for municipal water.
6. Repeat step 4 for domestic well water.
7. Place the Bricks Table (pH meter) in one test tube of municipal water and record pH measurement 
8. Mix the container with the spoon before the next measurement
9. Wipe off the Bricks Table and spoon with a new clean dry paper towel
10. Every time wipe off the Bricks Table and spoon with a new paper towel
11. Repeat steps 5-9 four more times in the same container
12. Repeat steps 5-10 for the other four containers
13. Repeat steps5-11 for the domestic well water samples
14. Clean up the area that was used for the experiment
15. Compare the data

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to compare the amount of pH in municipal drinking water vs. domestic well water.

The results of the experiment were that on average, the domestic well water had a greater pH reading than Municipal Water. The domestic well water had an overall average of 7.865 of all the samples compared to 7.805 for municipal water 

See the table and graph below.

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that domestic well water would have a greater pH than municipal water. 

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted. 

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if testing hot water instead of cold would affect the pH readings? I also wonder if other water quality measurements would vary for the two water types, such as hardness and iron content.

If I were to conduct this experiment again I would have timed how long the pH meter was left in the water. I would also use many more samples of water. Abstract

Municipal water e fair ideas for science fair projects continues at drinking water topics for science fair projects.