phosphateconcentrationdeterminationofthewatabriver.docVIP

Phosphate Concentration Determination of the Watab River Shed Stephen J. Lasslo, Eric A. Moldestad, and Dr. Michael Ross* Department of Chemistry Saint John’s University/College of Saint Benedict St. Joseph, MN 56374 Water samples were gathered from various sites on and surrounding the Saint John’s campus each week during the summer of 2001. These samples were then tested using two different methods of phosphate concentration determination. The primary reason for testing the phosphate levels was to determine the impact of the Saint John’s sewage treatment plant (which dumps into East Gemini Lake) on the surrounding water system. The study found that phosphate levels at East Gemini Lake (and the sites downstream of East Gemini Lake) were below one part per million as recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency for sewage effluent.5 Each of the remaining sites had phosphate levels considerably lower than one ppm. Introduction The purpose of this experiment was to monitor the concentration of phosphate in the water system of the Watab River Shed. Phosphate is an essential nutrient for algae growth and in most unpolluted waters, phosphate is the limiting growth nutrient. Therefore, if the phosphate concentrations in a water system are elevated then increased algae growth can occur. Excessive algae growth can lead to eutrophication or rapid aging of a lake. This occurs when the lake prematurely fills, as large amounts of algae die and sink to the bottom of the lake building layer upon layer, eventually filling in the lake. The Saint John’s sewage treatment plant dumps directly into East Gemini Lake and thus the possibility of eutrophication is of great concern. In order to determine the impact of the Saint John’s sewage treatment plant on the Watab River System, water samples were gathered from selected sites and two methods of phosphate concentration determination were used to monitor the phosphate levels. Background One of the methods that can be