Week 11: Almost there!

 Happy Thursday, everyone!

This week, the microplastic research group and I spent the majority of our time setting up infographics for the STEAM Day event on November 8th. We've officially completed the filtration, Nile-red dye, and counting microplastics portion of the experiment. 

Our hypothesis was confirmed- Microplastics will persist in the wastewater treatment, with the quantity being at its peak in stage 2 of the process. 

*Stage 2:  Sinkable solids are removed from liquid waste, and aeration occurs with the presence of oxygen; NH3 is converted to NO2- and NO3- (nitrification) by bacteria aerobic digestion by Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. 

The final upcoming step in our experiment will consist of the FTIR analysis, which will illuminate which types of plastics were filtered on our glass filters. The FTIR machine will provide the chemical composition of the microplastics! Incredibly impressive and exciting process!

I've attached what my infographic looks like in preparation for STEAM Day! :)