Abstract
The Muddy River, created in the late 1800’s, was made by Olmsted who devoted his life
to maintaining the natural urban wildlife preserve that later became run by the Emerald
Necklace Conservancy. Due to the river running through the Boston area, we found it
essential to test the quality of the water that is so close to home. In order to examine the
water quality, we used multiple probes to test the PH, temperature, and dissolved
oxygen apparent in the river. We used this recorded data by analyzing it in class making sense of our results. We learned that the river is in fact suitable to sustain
certain forms of life but the lower dissolved oxygen levels may prohibit certain new
developments within the river.
Introduction
Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., a socially active and genuinely concerned citizen
devoted his life to landscape design in order to benefit the denizens of Boston. He
bequeathed the citizens of Boston with the glorious forestry, which accentuates the
urban environment. The Emerald Necklace conservancy is the steward that maintains
the natural beauty of the urban park system. Although the river appears as a naturally
made sanctuary, it is in fact man made flowing from Jamaica pond into the Charles
River. It was at one time salt water, stagnant marshland that was transformed into a
flowing brook. Overtime Olmsted cleaned the marshland out in order to replenish the
eco-system. The Muddy River restoration project is being overseen by a number of
groups in order to return the Muddy River to its once flourishing beauty. The
environmental improvements include flood control, water quality, enhancement of
aquatic/riparian habitat, rehabilitation of landscape/historic resources, and the replanting
of the shoreline in order to prevent repeated erosion.
When determining water quality it is important to understand what is tested and
the different physiological factors. The main components that these tests are made up
of are the water temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen content. All of the proponents
are crucial to aquatic life. Temperature is the main physiological factor in maintaining
abiotic life because most aquatic organisms are ‘cold- blooded’ and do not have the
ability to regulate their own body temperatures. The higher the water temperature is, the
higher the biological activity, however if the temperature varies too high or too low
animals can die. Water temperature also has an effect on oxygen content. The higher
the water temperature the less oxygen is in it.
The pH is the measure or acidity of water. The pH scales goes from 0-14 with 7
being neutral. Anything higher than 7 is a base while if it is lower than 7 it is an acid. On
the pH scale each whole value is actually 10x more acidic than the one before it. The
scale has more to do with the breakdown of H2O also know as the ionization of water.
This is when water is broken don into H+ and OH- ions. In a river the healthy pH range
is about 5.5- 7.5. pH depends on many biological factors such as pollution, tides, and
organisms. The pH is generally higher in the daytime and as water levels changes so
does the pH. The pH has an effect of fish growth, morbidity, and birth rates.
Dissolved oxygen is vital to aquatic life and is their basis for living. The main
source of oxygen in a river is through plants’ by photosynthesis and the atmosphere.
During the day the plants actually generate more than enough oxygen, which provides
more for the fish and other organisms to consume. If there is not enough oxygen in the
water the organisms will die and reproduction can be affected. The minimum amount of
dissolved oxygen needed in water to support organisms it 4.0 mg/l while there is not
maximum because oxygen enables these organism to thrive and survive.
Materials and Method
-PASCO probes
-temperature probe
- PH probe
- Dissolved oxygen probe
-Air linkP
-iPads
- The PH buffer 7
-Sparkvue app
After charging the iPads and linking the probes with their batteries, we connected
the airlinks via Bluetooth to the iPads, with their specific ID numbers. Once we were
connected, we continued to walk towards the Muddy River, arriving at our first
experiment site located next to the bridge across from Simmons College (site 1 on
map). After each individual decided what they would be testing (out of dissolved
oxygen, PH, and temperature) we put our iPads on a dry area with one person, while
the other three dangled their probes into various depths of the water. After recording the
data for 60 seconds we repeated the same procedures at sites 2 and 3 (on map). Once
we completed these experiments for a week, we sat in the classroom in order to
analyze the data we had gathered to try and distinguish the possible errors that may
have occurred.
Map
Results
FIgure 1: pH in Muddy River: Y axis represents pH and the X axis is in seconds from 1
to 60. Results take from seven trials. Blue, Red, Turquoise and Purple were taken at
site one by the bridge. Green and Pink were taken by the site three the turtle bridge.
Yellow was taken at site two, the tree stump.
Figure 2: Dissolved Oxygen:Y axis represents mg/L of dissolved oxygen in water and
the X axis is in seconds from 1 to 60. Blue and Green were taken at site one next to the
bride. Red and Purple are taken at site two by the stump. Yellow and Turquoise were
taken at site three, turtle bridge.
Figure 3: Water Temperature: Y axis is the water temperature in Celsius and the X
axis is in seconds from 1 to 60. Blue, Red, Yellow were taken at the footbridge, site one.
Green was taken at the bridge with running water. Purple and Turquoise was taken at
the turtle bridge.
Discussion
The Muddy River may appear to be unfit to sustain life, but after careful and
meticulous research we have concluded that the river almost passes all the
requirements needed to be deemed a healthy aquatic biome. The pH level of the muddy
river averages out at about 6.9, which is well between the range of 5.5-7.5 required to
be considered a healthy river. The pH may be affected by pollution from vehicle exhaust
as well as acid rain, but the river seems to have compensate for this through natural
process involving bacteria and the vegetation along the river bank. The dissolved
oxygen present in the Muddy River is below the required the average of 4mg/L.
Dissolved oxygen levels can be lowered by excessive amounts of sewage or other
waste present in the water. We believe that the river is still suffering from the deleterious
effects of runoff. Our data in figure 2 shows a constant curve of exponential decay,
however more trials must be conducted to see where the lines even off at. The
temperature of the river has the most sporadic results because of the temperamental
New England climate and the vast amounts of shade the river receives. The
temperature of the river during the Blue Red and Yellow trials of figure 3 were much
colder because they were all taken on an overcast day in a shaded area. It is apparent
that we need to conduct more trials in all three categories before we make come to a
conclusion of the health of the river. The Muddy River’s pH, dissolved oxygen and
temperature are constantly fluctuating. In order to create a proper study we need more
than a week’s worth of data. In the future, tests should be conducted more frequently
and we must return to the same spots each day to see how the river has changed. It will
prove to be more effective if the data is taken from the same three or four spots, that
way we will not have to take into account as many varying factors when interpreting the
data. During the actual testing we need to become more cognizant of the probes
position in the water. If they touch the bottom the data will be compromised. If an error
or mistake occurs we should carry out the experiment again so that we are not stuck
with tainted data. We have also realized that the data will be more accurate if you leave
the probes in the water for about 20-30 seconds before doing the test. This will allow the
probes to become acclimated to water and the data will be more consistent. At this point
the river appears to be somewhat habitable, but the low dissolved oxygen level is
worrisome. While testing, our group observed the following species in their natural
habitats - geese, ducks, turtles, starlings, and squirrels. More trials and data need to be
collected before more can be said. The river may one day be the pristine flowing
environment that Frederick Law Olmsted wished it to be, but alas it is still the Muddy
River.
Literature Cited
-Bowles, Ian A. "Muddy River Flood Control, Water Quality and Habitat Enhancement,
and Historic Preservation Project." MEPA Annual Update. CDM, Apr. 2008. Web. 12
June 2012.
-Brown, Dave. "CHARLES RIVER: HISTORY & ISSUES PLAGUING ITS WATER
QUALITY." N.p., 22 Aug. 2005. Web. 12 June 2012.
-Lomborg, Bjorn. "Why Oxygen Dissolved in Water Is Important." Why Is Important the
Oxygen Dissolved in Water. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2012.