Posted: 8/11/2012 4:41:51 PM EDT
I am working on a paper for school and am looking into how to quantify pollution in a lake numerically. Can anyone help me? Any information would be helpful! 
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Haha you are so funny! I know what pollutants are and I have looked at the documentation for different lakes but I guess my concern is that I am unsure how to put it into my mathematical model. Do I put each separately or do I add them all together and that is my pollution number. |
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I guess what I am trying to say is: do i look at each pollutant separately or can I combine them? Different Pollutants are not equally bad. Arsenic in water is very different that Phosphorus. Probably more of a hint than you need. I am thinking this is where I am running into my biggest problem. Natural pollutants (over growth or lack of certain elements in the water) vs chemical. If I look at natural pollutants than I need to either focus on one or consider each individually whereas, if I consider chemical pollutants, then I can focus on just that chemical. I think I am going to need to look at pollutants a little differently. Thank you! :D Any more insight and information will be exceedingly helpful! |
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I guess what I am trying to say is: do i look at each pollutant separately or can I combine them? Different Pollutants are not equally bad. Arsenic in water is very different that Phosphorus. Probably more of a hint than you need. I am thinking this is where I am running into my biggest problem. Natural pollutants (over growth or lack of certain elements in the water) vs chemical. If I look at natural pollutants than I need to either focus on one or consider each individually whereas, if I consider chemical pollutants, then I can focus on just that chemical. I think I am going to need to look at pollutants a little differently. Thank you! :D Any more insight and information will be exceedingly helpful! Maybe take a look at the MSDS's of said pollutants to find a number that could correspond to its degree of damage. ETA: A material safety data sheet (MSDS), safety data sheet (SDS),[1] or product safety data sheet (PSDS) is an important component of product stewardship and workplace safety. It is intended to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point, etc.), toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill-handling procedures. MSDS formats can vary from source to source within a country depending on national requirements. |
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after you look at your temp, pH and total suspended solids, you will want to take several samples and send it off to a lab for an analytical.
you will most likely want to head to your local library and check out a book on 1. water quality management 2. environmental sampling when you receive your analytical it should look something like this. 
there's your numbers 
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I guess what I am trying to say is: do i look at each pollutant separately or can I combine them? well this can get tricky, for your research I would look at it separately. A list of priority pollutants can be found in Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 423 and a list of toxic pollutions can be found in Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR 401.15. The clean water act will also list toxic pollutants in CWA §307(a)(1) |
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I guess what I am trying to say is: do i look at each pollutant separately or can I combine them? well this can get tricky, for your research I would look at it separately. A list of priority pollutants can be found in Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 423 and a list of toxic pollutions can be found in Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR 401.15. The clean water act will also list toxic pollutants in CWA §307(a)(1) Thank you very much! I will be sure to look this up! |
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I guess what I am trying to say is: do i look at each pollutant separately or can I combine them? Different Pollutants are not equally bad. Arsenic in water is very different that Phosphorus. Probably more of a hint than you need. I am thinking this is where I am running into my biggest problem. Natural pollutants (over growth or lack of certain elements in the water) vs chemical. If I look at natural pollutants than I need to either focus on one or consider each individually whereas, if I consider chemical pollutants, then I can focus on just that chemical. I think I am going to need to look at pollutants a little differently. Thank you! :D Any more insight and information will be exceedingly helpful! Maybe take a look at the MSDS's of said pollutants to find a number that could correspond to its degree of damage. ETA: A material safety data sheet (MSDS), safety data sheet (SDS),[1] or product safety data sheet (PSDS) is an important component of product stewardship and workplace safety. It is intended to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point, etc.), toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill-handling procedures. MSDS formats can vary from source to source within a country depending on national requirements. Thank you! I will look into this as well! 
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