*Commercial water quality test kits can be purchased at a pool supply store, home improvement store or even online lab supply company
Nutrients are vital to the health of an ecosystem. Phosphorus is one of the key elements necessary for growth of plants and animals. This is especially true in lake ecosystems. Like nitrate, high levels of phosphorus can lead to overgrowth of plants, increased bacteria, and decreased oxygen levels. However, too many nutrients can be determinantal to an ecosystem. An excessive amount of nutrients such as phosphate can lead to eutrophication. Eutrophication is excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen. Most nutrients involved in eutrophication are derived from point-source human activity pollution such as fertilizer runoff from agriculture, land development, stormwater runoff, construction, and wastewater treatment. Student will test water samples to determine the health of each sample and identify possible sources of imbalance.
