Mullet River Health Sarita Tracy,

Olivia Honeck,

Alyssa Gilbert, and

Anna Wachowiak

PH

When we tested for the ph of the water we got a 7. Seven is considered basic or the normal level of a river or stream.

Turbidity

We measured the turbidity in two feet of water and for the total feet of turbidity it ended up being 1.5 feet turbidity.

Total Phosphate

When we measured the total phosphate we got a measurement of 0mg/liter.

Organisms we found

Paramecium Macrocyclops Daphnia Horse fly larva Fingernail clam Backswimmer Riffle Beetle larva

Overall Heath of the River

The overall health of the river in our area is not bad but not good at the same time. Phosphates are an esental thing that plants need to grow. We need more of this in the river. Phosphates are produced by the remains of the plants and animals in the river. On the other hand the ph of the river is not acidy it’s at the normal level of 7.

How to Improve the Rivers Health

The river could improve it’s turbidity. The turbidity is the amount of little dirt particles floating around in the river. If there are a lot of these particles in the water it makes it hard for fish to breath because the particles clog their gills and cause them to die. It’s also a problem for plants because the particles block the sunlight from getting to them. Most of the particles in the river are runoff from farm fields to reduce this we could have infiltration trenches. Infiltration trenches are filled with rocks so the runoff is stored in the cracks between the rocks. The runoff slowly filters back into the ground.