River Field Trip Pre-Lab 4/13/2018
During this field trip, data will be collected from Lake Evergreen, Lake Bloomington, and Six Mile Creek. All of these field locations are in central Illinois. Lake Evergreen is a 925-acre reservoir created by damming Six Mile Creek for recreation, sport fishing, and water supply purposes. Lake Bloomington is a man-made lake, located in Hudson, Illinois, with the original purpose of supplying Bloomington-Normal with a reliable source of water. Six Mile creek, one of the two tributaries to Lake Evergreen, is located in Illinois' Woodford County. The purpose of this field trip is to test the quality of the water as a habitat for wildlife at each location.
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid and is measured in the Jackson Turbidity Unit, JTU. It is caused by numerous individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye. Algae is a plant that grows in the water and has no flowers, stems, roots, or leaves. There are many different types of algae. The substrate of a body of water is the material that rests at the bottom of it. Some examples of substrate are bedrock, gravel, silt, and sand. The riparian land of a body of water is the area of land adjacent to the water, such as the banks of a river or "streamside" land. Riparian land is often vegetated with farm crops or trees. A river's watershed is the area of land drained by that river and all of its tributaries. Also known as a drainage basin, it is the area of land where all of the water that falls in and drains off of it goes to a common outlet, such as a lake, river, or stream. Coliform bacteria is found in the intestinal tract of humans and other warm-blooded animals. If coliform bacteria is present in water, it is likely that the water contains fecal contamination. Macroinvertebrates are invertebrate macroorganisms and they are important in nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems because they process organic materials. Examples of macroinvertebrates include crustaceans, mollusks, or aquatic insects.
Oxygen enters a body of water by absorption from the atmosphere, rapid movement, or as a waste product of photosynthesis, and it dissolves in the water to create dissolved oxygen. Dissolved oxygen is important for a body of water because aquatic organisms need it in order to breathe. Dissolved oxygen also decomposes organic matter in the water. A healthy concentration of dissolved oxygen for aquatic organisms is around 5 ppm to 6 ppm.
An excess of phosphates in a body of water indicates a low level of dissolved oxygen because too much phosphate can speed up eutrophication. Phosphate levels in streams, rivers, and lakes are expected to be no more than 0.1 ppm.
An excess of nitrates in water indicates poor water quality and causes large amounts of algae and other aquatic plants because they use nitrates as a source of food. Too much algae and plant growth can make it difficult for aquatic insects and fish to survive. An expected range of concentration of nitrates is between 0 ppm and 1 ppm.
The presence of coliform bacteria in water indicates that the water is contaminated with feces or sewage. This means that the water has potential to cause disease.
Pure water has a pH of 7. A healthy range of pH in surface water systems is between 6.5 and 8.5.
An excess of phosphates in a body of water indicates a low level of dissolved oxygen because too much phosphate can speed up eutrophication. Phosphate levels in streams, rivers, and lakes are expected to be no more than 0.1 ppm.
An excess of nitrates in water indicates poor water quality and causes large amounts of algae and other aquatic plants because they use nitrates as a source of food. Too much algae and plant growth can make it difficult for aquatic insects and fish to survive. An expected range of concentration of nitrates is between 0 ppm and 1 ppm.
The presence of coliform bacteria in water indicates that the water is contaminated with feces or sewage. This means that the water has potential to cause disease.
Pure water has a pH of 7. A healthy range of pH in surface water systems is between 6.5 and 8.5.