Biology
Last year in my Biology class we did a lab project on different parts of the water from Jaffrey City Lake, and we had to write a paper about it.In my paper I told them how bad that their water is and how it effects the people in the town.
Breanna Dean
Patricia Williamson
Biology 3rd
9/22/14
Jaffrey Lake Contamination
When it came to the research that my team and I did, we found that your town lake Jaffrey lake is at a high risk of eutrophication. Our team performed 12 tests on the water from the lake and came to the conclusion that there were very high amounts of nitrates and phosphates in the lake. We are concerned because now the people of Jaffrey City have shown that they are aware of the filth and toxic chemicals in the water. It has now impacted the people in jaffrey city because they can’t swim in the lake like they did before because they are scared that they might just get sick. This unfortunate situation of the chemicals in the water have not just made it hard for people to interact with the lake , but also animals and sea life that's in the lake. The main cause of this problem are the nitrates and phosphates in lake. There were reports from community members saying that their were washed up dead fish that were coming onto the shore of the lake.Which is an effect of the chemicals that are in the water. But what exactly is it that these nitrates and phosphates are doing to the lake?
We as researchers are not shocked that these nitrates and phosphates are in the water because they do help with the process and growth of the plants and animals underwater. When it comes to the growth of plants and sea animals it is okay for the chemicals to be in this water but it becomes dangerous when the amount of the chemicals become too high.The process where the levels of phosphates and nitrates come to be too high is called eutrophication. Eutrophication is when high levels of natural environmental nutrients cause rapid levels of plants growing. Phosphates to begin with are very much needed to help plants grow. The phosphates can normally be found in large bodies of water being mixed in with oxygen and the chemical phosphate. Nitrates are known to be used in fertilizers for plants. When the fertilizers are used too much it can harm the bodies of waters such as Jaffrey Lake. They find their ways into the lake if their is any amount of unused nitrates being washed into the water in the ground making its way into the lake. When the nitrates get into the water the plants like algae start to use the nitrates as a food source then reproduce and make blooms of algae. That's when the eutrophication starts. After the eutrophication starts and the plants start to reproduce too much they create a thick layer of green algae. The layer is very dangerous because it doesn't allow any light to get into the water or oxygen . And that's what plants and sea life most need. And if we know that these plants aren't getting any of the stuff they need to survive they will die off and so will the animals just like the dead fish that have washed up on the shore. It should be made known to the citizens that now they should keep their distance from the lake until something can be done to improve the wellness of it. With the data our group found below we noticed that the phosphates and nitrates were all over the lake and if their isn't anything done it will only get worse and worse.
Patricia Williamson
Biology 3rd
9/22/14
Jaffrey Lake Contamination
When it came to the research that my team and I did, we found that your town lake Jaffrey lake is at a high risk of eutrophication. Our team performed 12 tests on the water from the lake and came to the conclusion that there were very high amounts of nitrates and phosphates in the lake. We are concerned because now the people of Jaffrey City have shown that they are aware of the filth and toxic chemicals in the water. It has now impacted the people in jaffrey city because they can’t swim in the lake like they did before because they are scared that they might just get sick. This unfortunate situation of the chemicals in the water have not just made it hard for people to interact with the lake , but also animals and sea life that's in the lake. The main cause of this problem are the nitrates and phosphates in lake. There were reports from community members saying that their were washed up dead fish that were coming onto the shore of the lake.Which is an effect of the chemicals that are in the water. But what exactly is it that these nitrates and phosphates are doing to the lake?
We as researchers are not shocked that these nitrates and phosphates are in the water because they do help with the process and growth of the plants and animals underwater. When it comes to the growth of plants and sea animals it is okay for the chemicals to be in this water but it becomes dangerous when the amount of the chemicals become too high.The process where the levels of phosphates and nitrates come to be too high is called eutrophication. Eutrophication is when high levels of natural environmental nutrients cause rapid levels of plants growing. Phosphates to begin with are very much needed to help plants grow. The phosphates can normally be found in large bodies of water being mixed in with oxygen and the chemical phosphate. Nitrates are known to be used in fertilizers for plants. When the fertilizers are used too much it can harm the bodies of waters such as Jaffrey Lake. They find their ways into the lake if their is any amount of unused nitrates being washed into the water in the ground making its way into the lake. When the nitrates get into the water the plants like algae start to use the nitrates as a food source then reproduce and make blooms of algae. That's when the eutrophication starts. After the eutrophication starts and the plants start to reproduce too much they create a thick layer of green algae. The layer is very dangerous because it doesn't allow any light to get into the water or oxygen . And that's what plants and sea life most need. And if we know that these plants aren't getting any of the stuff they need to survive they will die off and so will the animals just like the dead fish that have washed up on the shore. It should be made known to the citizens that now they should keep their distance from the lake until something can be done to improve the wellness of it. With the data our group found below we noticed that the phosphates and nitrates were all over the lake and if their isn't anything done it will only get worse and worse.