57 Issues in Geoscience Education

Tuesday, 22 March 2011
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Monongahela

USING CITY WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM TO EDUCATE STUDENTS ABOUT WATER AND ENVIRONMENT

Paper number: 57-3
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM

Authors

Abstract

Several cities in the United States have water distribution systems that are more than one hundred years old where leaks and breaks have been reported. These breaks may result in the altering of water quality throughout the distribution system, to the point of dispensing. We examined the water quality of a mid sized Midwest City to determine if the city drinking water reached the customer with the same standards to which it is held at the source. That is; does the water quality remain the same after it has traveled the distance from its water treatment plant? The population served by this city's water supply is in excess of 200,000 residence.

For our process the city was decided into a grid allowing for water samples to be taken from an east west line, a north south south line, and two diagonal lines (NE-SW and NW-SE). In total, thirty-six sample locations were selected from which water was collected. The water samples were tested for: chlorine, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, iron, nitrate, nitrite, and pH. Preliminary results show that more than eighty-five percents of the sites are well within the US EPA. guidelines for water quality with approximately ten percent more remaining within the guidelines though having levels of concern. Five percent of the sample sites, water failed to pass The US EPA. guidelines.