Lab - Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Drinking Water Quality
Bottled water is a billion dollar industry in the United States. Still, few people know the health benefits, if any, that come from drinking bottled water as opposed to tap water. This experiment will look at the levels of a variety of different chemical compounds in both tap and bottled water to determine if there are health benefits in drinking bottled water.
POST-LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis regarding which water sources you believe will contain the most and least contaminants, and state why you believe this. Be sure to clearly rank all three sources from most to least contaminants.
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would accept or reject the hypothesis you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what specific differences do you notice among the Dasani®, Fiji®, and Tap Water?
4. Based upon the fact sheets provided (links at the end of this document), do any of these samples pose a health concern? Use evidence from the lab to support your answer.
5. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Use evidence from the lab to support your opinion.
You are required to write a complete laboratory report that covers the drinking water quality experiment from "Lab 2: Water Quality and Contamination," using knowledge gained throughout the course. Use the instructor feedback on your Rough Draft from Week Three to guide your writing.
Be sure to download the Final Lab Report Template and utilize this form (not the Rough Draft template) to ensure proper formatting and inclusion of all required material. Additionally, view the Sample Final Lab Report before beginning this assignment, which will illustrate what a Final Lab Report should look like.
You must use at least two scholarly sources, two other highly credible sources, and your lab manual to support your points. The report must be six to ten pages in length (excluding the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style.
For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course.
The Final Lab Report must contain the following eight sections in this order:
Title Page - This page must include the title of your report, your name, course name, instructor, and date submitted.
Abstract - This section should provide a brief summary of the methods, results, and conclusions. It should allow the reader to see what was done, how it was done, and the results. It should not exceed 200 words and should be the last part written (although it should still appear right after the title page).
Introduction - This section should include background information on water quality and an overview of why the experiment was conducted. It should first contain background information of similar studies previously conducted. This is accomplished by citing existing literature from similar experiments. Secondly, it should provide an objective or a reason why the experiment is being done. Why do we want to know the answer to the question we are asking? Finally, it should end the hypothesis from your Week Two experiment, and the reasoning behind your hypothesis. This hypothesis should not be adjusted to reflect the "right" answer. Simply place your previous hypothesis in the report here. You do not lose points for an inaccurate hypothesis; scientists often revise their hypotheses based on scientific evidence following the experiments.
Materials and Methods - This section should provide a detailed description of the materials used in your experiment and how they were used. A step-by-step rundown of your experiment is necessary; however, it should be done in paragraph form, not in a list format. The description should be exact enough to allow for someone reading the report to replicate the experiment, however, it should be in your own words and not simply copied and pasted from the lab manual.
Results - This section should include the data and observations from the experiment. All tables and graphs should be present in this section. In addition to the tables, you must describe the data in text; however, there should be no personal opinions or discussion outside of the results located within this area.
Discussion - This section should interpret your data and provide conclusions. Discuss the meanings of your findings in this area. Was your hypothesis accepted or rejected, and how were you able to determine this? Did the results generate any future questions that might benefit from a new experiment? Were there any outside factors (i.e., temperature, contaminants, time of day) that affected your results? If so, how could you control for these in the future?
Conclusions - This section should provide a brief summary of your work.
References - List references used in APA format.
References
World Health Organization (1996) Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Health criteria and other supporting information. World Health Organization. Geneva. 1996. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/iron.pdf
Water quality [electronic resource] : guidelines, standards, and health : assessment of risk and risk management for water-related infectious disease / edited by Lorna Fewtrell and Jamie Bartram. London : IWA Pub., 2001. xiv, 431 p. : ill., tables. Language: English
Production Costs, Inefficiency, and Source Water Quality: A Stochastic Cost Frontier Analysis of Canadian Water Utilities. By: Price, James I.; Renzetti, Steven; Dupont, Diane; Adamowicz, Wiktor; Emelko, Monica B. Land Economics. Feb2017, Vol. 93 Issue 1, p1-11. 11p.
Water quality [electronic resource] : indicators, human impact and environmental health / You-Gan Wang, editor. New York : Nova Publishers, c2013. viii, 309 p. : ill. Language: English,
Turk, J., & Bensel, T. (2014).Contemporary environmental issues (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Air pollution and the Clean Air Act. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/air/caa/
Attachment:- Assignment.rar