Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to assess the quality of water based on physical characteristics, chemical substances and biological indicators. 

Hypothesis:
If we test the quality of the water of the Miami River to indicate the pH, nitrates, DO( dissolved oxygen), phosphates, BOD( biological oxygen demand) , coliform bacteria and turbidity, then we believe that the pH would rank a five or six,the nitrate levels will be higher than a normal 5ppm( parts per million), the DO( dissolved oxygen)  test will have little aquatic life and may be mildly polluted, the phosphates would be tested fair, the BOD levels will be high, which means that the river is not as clean as normal rivers , the coliform bacteria test would be positive, which means that it does contain bacteria and that the turbidity test would result poor.

Conclusions:

Phosphates:
On April 24, 2000 students from Mrs. Casal's 6th period class went to the Miami River to take different tests of the water. Our particular group did the phosphates water test. The first trial came out to be 1 ppm. The second trial was 2 ppm. The last trial of the phosphate water tes came out to be 4 ppm. The average of this water test is 2.3 ppm. the rank of this experiment was fair. In our observations we noted that the color of the water was light blue at the mouth of the river and darker blue toward the collection site. We did not notice any particular smell or any debris floating around.

Dissolved Oxygen (DO):
The dissolved oxygen levels in the Miami River are very low.  At 4ppm (parts per million) and a saturation of 51%, it was rated bad.  From this we were able to conclude that this body of water is highly polluted. Most of the pollution seems to be coming from human waste and motor oil, which is carried by storm water runoff into the river. With all of the pollutants in the water it is almost too dangerous for some life forms to survive. In fact, if this pollution continues, we predict that the decomposing bacteria's growth will increase rapidly due to the deaths of the aquatic life. This can be verified with our results from the coliform bacteria test. As this process occurs, the bacteria will start thinning the dissolved oxygen from the water as more bacteria is needed to decompose the remains of the fish. In comparison with other schools we have found averages of 6 ppm (parts per million) which shows that the Miami River is mildly polluted.
 

BOD( Biological Oxygen Demand):
In our testing of BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) in the Miami River, we found that the BOD level was 4 ppm (parts per million).  This means that the BOD level in the Miami River is in good condition. In order to calculate that the Miami River is in good condition, we had to do a series of tests.  First we collected water from the river three times.  We sealed the test tubes so that there was no air bubbles in the test tubes.  Then we covered them in aluminum foil. After that, we put them in a dark location for four days.  On the fouth day we opened the test tubes and put in two tablets.  We shook the bottles until the tablets dissolved.  We compared the test tubes to the BOD chart which ranks our results as good. 
 

Coliform Bacteria:
After testing the water from the Miami River to see if it contained bacteria, we concluded that the water from the Miami River was contaminated with much bacteria.  The test that we performed(Coliform Bacteria Test) was conducted three times.  In every test, three tubes were filled with 10 mL of the river water.  There was a tablet at the bottom of the tubes.  The tubes were to be left for 36 hours without movement or contact to the sunlight to have accurate information.  After the 36 hours expired, we observed that the color of the water was orange/yellow.  The water turned out to be positive, which meant it was bacteria infested.  One of the main reasons that the water was bacteria infested was because of the storm water runoff.  Now we know that this water is harmful to human and animals.  While on the river, the visions of animals were very scarce.  This problem could be due to the high amount of bacteria in the water.

Temperature:
Using our results as the temperature. We did three different trials for this test.  The first trial was 28º C  and the second trial was 28º C and the last trial was 29º C. So the average temperature level was eight. When we averaged out the temperature of the Miami River, we came to a conclusion that it was 28º C. This temperature supports the bacterial growth which is shown positive in our coliform test.

pH:
In conclusion, we received results of an 7 pH levele which is considered excellent.  Astonished of the appearence, we concluded that our hypothesis was not supported. We had predicted that the Miami River water would be slightly acidic from the effects of surrounding activities of the population. Although Miami is not an industrial city, the growth of its population has greatly increased and with it the needs for transportation. It appears that our water is not affected by the effects of the exhaust fumes which contribute to the acid rain in other cities.

Turbidity:
One group was in charge of constructing a secchi disk and collecting the results for turbidity.  A secchi disk is a checked board like a disk that has two weights at the bottom and a long line that runs upward.  We were to give the secchi disk slack and let it sink until it was not visible.  Then we marked where the line touched the surface of the water.  Next, we measured the depth.  We lost visibility of our the secchi disk in the water at a depth of 646 cm.  Compared to the turbidity scale we researched, this turned out to be a good reading.  Because of the waste particles found in the water probably from the storm drains that empty out into the Miami River, our reading was not able to reach excellent.  Another cause that that might have affected the turbidity could have been the amount of algae growth.