Student Research Reports

View Research Report

The purpose of this research was to determine if there was a difference in the tap water from the same city source when the sample comes from a different location within the same city. Historical data (previous student projects) was researched. Current samples were taken from the same location and were tested using the same water quality tests as the previous researchers used: LaMotte Water Monitoring test kits: pH, copper, lead, dissolved oxygen, nitrates and phosphates. These test results were uploaded into the data base for NASA and recorded in the logbook. The results were analyzed to discover if the tap water is the same or different from the various locations. It was thought that should these results show that the water is different, that would show an effect on the plant samples grown in previous research projects. If there is no change, then no affect would have occurred. This researcher thought there would be no difference between the different samples and perhaps some other cause brought about this difference in results. The hypothesis was expected to confirm this hypothesis, but it did not. Instead, it was discovered that the quality of the water is different in the different locations because the water comes from different sources and is funneled into the same treatment plant for purification.