Week five: Wastewater Visit!

Happy Thursday everyone, 

   This week, the microplastic research group and some of Dr. Cotter's Biology 181 course students traveled to the wastewater facility to collect our site samples!

   We were provided the tour, and I was able to take detailed notes on the provided explanations behind the logic placed for each stage (6 in total). I am planning to use my spring break to transfer all the notes into a Google document to share with my current research group and perhaps for future researchers interested in picking up the microplastic research question. 

   We also determined inconsistent values regarding the oxygen levels in stages 2 and 3; the anaerobic and anoxic stages had unideal O2 ppm values, with Stage 2 (aerobic stage) containing a 0.7 oxygen ppm value and Stage 3 (anoxic stage) having a 3.51 oxygen ppm value. 

   Once the microplastic research group arrived back on the Phoenix College campus, Dr. Cotter and I tested the collected wastewater samples for nitrate levels. 

   We tested the same samples twice to ensure the accuracy of the apparatus. The results confirmed the oxygen levels in Stages 2 and 3 were not at the ideal range for their respective stages since Stage 2 had a 0.7 ppm oxygen reading, and Stage 3 had a 3.51 ppm oxygen reading. 

These were the results: 

Testing 1

• Stage 2 (aerobic): 0.37 mg/L
• Stage 3 (anoxic): 2.68 mg/L
• Stage 4 (clarifier): 0.28 mg/L 
• Stage 5 (filtration): 0.84 mg/L 
• Stage 6 (chlorination): 1.10 mg/L 

Testing 2

• Stage 2 (aerobic): 0.37 mg/L
• Stage 3 (anoxic): 2.70 mg/L
• Stage 4 (clarifier): 0.30 mg/L 
• Stage 5 (filtration): 0.85 mg/L 
• Stage 6 (chlorination): 1.10 mg/L 

I attached a photo of the group down below! :)