Scientific Method and Water Processing

The scientific method is the process by which scientists seek to construct an accurate representation of the world.  The first step of the scientific method is to observe and describe some sort of scientific phenomena.  The second step is to formulate a hypothesis to describe the observed phenomena.  Next, the hypothesis is used to predict the existence of other scientific phenomena.  Finally, a set of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters are designed to test the hypothesis (http://teacher.nsrl.rochester.edu/phy_labs/appendixe/appendixe.html).

The guiding question for this study is: how does the Municipal Stadium Wetland affect the water quality of the water from Buck Creek?  This question was chosen to mirror a study performed by Heidelberg University in the Great Miami River.  The hypothesis is that the wetland improves the water quality of Buck Creek by filtering out dissolved silica and dissolved inorganic nitrogen, as well as excess anions and cations from Buck Creek.  We are testing this hypothesis by collecting both spatial and temporal (diurnal) samples from the Municipal Stadium Wetland and Buck Creek.  A diurnal sample occurs over a 24 hour period, with a sample being collected hourly.  These samples were collected by an auto-sampler.  The spatial samples were collected manually, by randomly chosing 30 sampling locations within both the wetland and Buck Creek.  Sample contamination was prevented by wearing gloves and rinsing sample bottles three times prior to collection.  After collection, samples were filtered and pH was measured.  The attached photo is the filtration set up.  Filtration was used to remove sediment from the water sample.  pH was tested using a digital pH probe.  Following filtration, samples were run through an Ion Chromatograph.  This data will contribute to a larger data set of the Ohio River watershed.