fairfolio
Saved Projects

The Use of Thamnocephalus to Analyze Water Qaulity of the Santa Ana River

CSEF · 2015 Environmental Science First Award

Vincent A. Chen · Inland Leaders Charter School, Yucaipa, San Bernardino County

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective was to evaluate water quality of the Santa Ana River with a "live biomarker" crustacean species (Thamnocephalus platyurus)to determine areas of pollution. Null Hypothesis: Mean values of water quality of the "control" water samples would be no different than that of the water samples taken from the Santa Ana River. Methods/Materials Thamnocephalus cysts were hatched at 30 degrees C for 30-32 hours, before being exposed to "control" or "test" water samples for 2 hours, and then fed red-colored micro-beads for 30 min. After termination with fixative, total number animals were counted as well as the number which had consumed red beads. Feeding inhibition was calculated and used to evaluate the pollution of the Santa Ana River samples vs. control water samples (Arrowhead Spring Water). Results The use of Thamnocephalus as a viable organism to evaluate water quality was established. Significant differences in water quality were found in different water samples taken from the main body of the Santa Ana River and its tributaries. Conclusions/Discussion Data did not support the Null Hypothesis, which was rejected. The Alternative Hypothesis was accepted: There are some areas of the Santa Ana River which are more polluted than other regions and from the control water samples. Results are discussed in terms of their predictive capacity. Results are significant because obtaining data regarding the water quality of the Santa Ana River will permit a prediction of where to focus efforts to control storm water runoff, which is the primary source of pollution of the Santa Ana River watershed.

Summary statement

Thamnocephalus platyurus was used to detect polluted areas of the Santa Ana River.

Help received

Guidance was received from my science teacher, Yucaipa Valley Water District, Riverside Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Department of Public Works, San Bernardino County, EPA, Riverside Waterkeeper, and my grandfather.

Awards (1)

Competition history

  • CSEF 2015 Environmental Science · Entry J1105

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google