Ivan,+William,+Tamara,+Emily

=**Research Question:** Does fountain water more closely resemble filtered water or tap water?=

To answer our research question tested for the following in the water:

 * Ammonium
 * pH
 * Bacteria

**Why we chose to test these items:**
Though ammonia has not been considered a health risk significant enough to be included in the guildelines for drinking-water, it is a main component of fertilizer, animal feed production, the manufacture of fibres, plastics, explosives, paper and rubber, as well as the cement mortar used to coat the insides of water pipes. Therefore, if drinking water contains more than 0.2 mg of ammonia per liter, there is an indication of faecal pollution, taste and odor irregularities, and may decrease the efficiency of common chlorine disinfection. The shandard range for acceptable pH values of drinking water is between 6.5 and 8.5. Water with pH values exceeding 8.5 do not necessarily pose health risks, but may have cause liquids to taste bitter, precipitate to form on the interior of pipings, dishes, other surfaces, and will cause difficulty in soap lathering. For pH values less than 6.5, the water would be acidic, meaning that its contains an elevated amount of toxic metal ions, this can cause damage to piping, stains, and pose health risks to the drinker. The maximum acceptable concentration for drinking water is No Organisms Detectable/100 mL. The presence of bacteria indicates indicates other disease causing organisms, most common of which cause gastrointestinal illness, which can be life threatening for infants, the elderly, and immunosuppressed individuals.
 * ===//Ammonium://===
 * ===//pH//===
 * ===//Bacteria//===


 * How we tested them:**
 * Ammonium probe
 * pH probe
 * Using agar as a nutrient broth for the growth of bacteria in a petridish, the respective water samples are streaked across it and then the petridish is covered and placed in an incubator where the warm conditions are ideal for bacteria growth. After a day or two if there is indeed bacteria present they will form colonies that can be spotted and noted.


 * Data:**

__Bacteria__ The filtered water sample was the only one that came back with bacterial growth.

//__pH__// Tap: 5.94 Fountain: 6.06 Filter: 6.60 //__Ammonium__// Tap: 0.6 mg/L Fountain: 0.9 mg/L Filter: 0.3 mg/L


 * Conclusion:** In both the pH and ammonium tests, the water from the water fountain most closely resembles tap water.

The calibration of the probes proved tricky and sometimes produced erratic data. The way to minimize this error is to perform multiple trials for each probe. Also, the bacteria in the filtered water can be attributed to the fact that it was stored in a used water bottle, and bacteria from the mouth might have contaminated the results. In order to eliminate this error is to collect the water right before the experiment, clean the bottle more thoroughly, or use a container that has not been used before.
 * Improvements**