Vivien Doucette

6th Chemistry Steve Smith

Chemical Analysis of the Animas River and Identifying Ions Present in the Water
Abstract:
This lab was performed to identify ions present in the Animas River. On August 5, 2015,
three million gallons of acid mine drainage was released into the headwaters of the Animas
River, turning the water a yellow-orange hue. More than a month later, the ecological effects of
the spill are still being investigated. This lab tried to find present ions such as lead, silver, barium
and copper in water sample taken along from the river. The main question asked was: What ions
are present in the Animas River and Cement Creek water? The method used was variable based
using a control, clear purified water, and a test sample, river water. Each chemical that was being
tested was put in a solution that would react, then in the distilled water and river water. If a
reaction was present in the test water, a precipitate would form. The substances that were tested
were calcium ( CA+2), chloride (Cl-), iron (Fe+3), sulfate (SO42-), copper (Cu2+) and lead (Pb+2). In
the end, most tests ended up being negative for any ions of the tested minerals.Very few results
presented positive for ions. These results were mostly in the upper Cement Creek areas. This is
significant and relevant because it proves the EPAs statement that our river is still clean and safe
to use, and that the media's perception of the river being deadly, is false.
Methods:
To begin the lab, multiple samples of the river water were taken. These samples were
taken at Cement Creek below the Gold King mine, South Fork above the confluence of Cement
Creek, Cement Creek in Silverton, the Animas and Cement Creek on 14th Street bridge and
Mineral creek above the confluence with the Animas River. Upon entering the lab, safety goggles
where required to be on and disposable latex gloves were highly suggested. A short safety
demonstration was presented, showing students the locations of the emergency shower, fume
hood, eye wash and the fire extinguisher. The experiment was performed using four types of
solutions. The reference solution, the control, the test solution and the indicator solution were all
used to find results. Using a pipette ten drops of the indicator solution was poured into a well
plate. This solution was used to show a positive response, therefore a reference point when
mixed with the indicator. After noting the reaction made, three drops from a designated pipette of
the indicator were placed into ten drops of the control, clean and distilled water, this made no
reaction and could be used to compare with the test solution. Three drops of the indicator were
then dropped into the test water from one of the six locations collected. A reaction was then
searched for and recorded.

There were five tests in the entire experiment. The first test looked for calcium ions. Ten
drops of CaCl2 were used as a reference well. Then three pipette drops of sodium carbonate were
added to the three wells. After this test, using two samples of water, the wells were cleaned out
using a water wash over a sink and a quick dry off using a paper towel. Chloride ions were then
tested for using the same method, but using Cl as a reference solution, and silver nitrate, the
indicator, to the solutions. This test had to be cleaned in a special manner because it contained
silver, a known toxin. The liquids were poured into a special waste container jug and rinsed out
in a designated container. Iron ion tests were then conducted. The reference solution was
Fe(NO3)3 and the indicator was potassium thicocate. These mixtures could be disposed in the
normal way and where. The sulfate ion tests used FeSO4 as the reference solution and barium
chloride as the indicator. This test had to be specially disposed, as it contained barium, a toxin.
The final test in the experiment searched for both copper and lead. For the copper reference
solution CuSO4 was used and for the lead reference solution Pb(NO3)2 was used. The third well
was filled with the distilled water and the fourth with the test water. Potassium iodine was the
indicator for both tests. Again this test had to be specially disposed.
All of these results were recorded in a given table and added to a online data form.
Results:
This entire experiment was to determine what ions were present in the test samples. The
majority of these test came back negative for present ions. Very few ions were present in the
water, except for those farther up Cement Creek and closer the Gold King mine. These ions were
calcium, sulfate, iron, copper and lead.
Table #1
Sample
Location

Calcium
Test

Chloride
Test

A68

0/10

0/10

0/10

0/10

0/10

0/10

A72

0/8

0/8

0/8

0/8

0/8

0/8

CC@14

0/15

0/15

4/15

0/15

0/15

0/15

CCA@T

3/8

0/8

2/8

0/8

2/8

1/8

MC

1/11

0/11

0/11

0/11

0/11

0/11

SFCC

0/10

0/10

1/10

1/10

0/10

0/10

Table #2

Sulfate Test Iron Test

Copper
Test

Lead Test

Reference Point

Location

MC

Mineral Creek above confluence with the

Animas River

CCA@T

Cement Creek below mine effluent and above

confluence with the South Fork of Cement
Creek

SFCC

South Fork of Cement Creek above

confluence with the Main Fork of Cement
Creek

CC@14

Cement Creek in Silverton (14th street bridge)

A68

Animas River in Silverton (14th street bridge)

A72

The Animas below Silverton

Discussion:
The goal of testing for present ions in the Animas River Water was to determine if certain
metals were in the water. The entire experiment was to help address the question if or if not the
Animas River water is safe for human consumption. A vast majority of the tests determines that
there is not detectable concentrations, but there are a few tests that did come back positive (Table
1). Out of the thirty six experiments tested, eight detected those ions. All these tests came from
Cement Creek, closer to the Gold King mine and farther into the mountainous territory. The
location that had the most present ions was CCA@T (Table 1), which coincidently is the closest
to the mine. Levels of present ions seem to drop the farther downstream we go. This is proved by
evidence that ions of the substances are present in Cement Creek, but not in the Animas, which is
below Cement.
I was both surprised and not surprised by the results of this experiment. Before we
conducted this experiment the Environmental Protection Agency stated that the water had
returned to pre event levels. Due to some personal speculation I thought that the water would be
majorly contaminated. I honestly expected more substances to be present in the water than what
was shown. If the EPA stated that these levels where the same before the event, they did not tell
us that these substances were in the water. Unfortunately we are unable to compare these results
to pre event levels, post event levels and the EPAs tests. I was also not surprised to find more
ions closer to the mine. This was because I hypothesised that ions would get caught or settle into
the ground as the stream continued down, and because the flow of water is increased as Cement
Creek and the Animas River collided, causing levels to become diluted.

These results are significant due to multiple reasons. The first is it proves that the Animas
River water is safe for human and animal consumption. Once we begin testing the Animas, no
ions are present (Table 1), telling us that the water is clear from these substances and were not
contaminated long term because of the infamous spill. This also proves the claims made by the
Colorado governor, John Hickenlooper and other government entities that the Animas is
completely safe, but the results from this experiment also prove that there are potentially
dangerous ions present in Cement Creek. This causes me to think about what effect these certain
substances have on the ecosystem, and how those effects can be reduced or stopped completely.
Unfortunately, this experiment can not prove the EPAs claim that metal levels have returned to
normal because we do not have access to that data.
I am highly sceptical of this experiment. This experiment was conducted by Animas High
School Juniors, as their first official Chemistry lab. Most likely these students did not have much
experience with working in a lab and did not follow some lab procedure, due to confusion or
simply not even knowing. Errors are not limited to, contamination with pipettes or droppers,
dropping or mixing wrong chemicals, or mislabeling plate wells. No instruments were used to
measure levels so error from misreading an instrument can not be an issue. Students will gain
better lab skills as we progress through the year and conduct more. Hopefully these basic errors
will be lessened over time and provide better results.
They are many ways that this experiment could be improved. These improvements could
possibly lead to better, more accurate results. Some improvements that could be made, are
increasing the amount of water tested, and collecting water from the bottom of the river. During
the test I saw that we were testing only about 10-20 drops of the river water. This seemed a little
weird because some of these substances are not soluble, and had a greater chance of not being
present. Possibly by testing larger amounts of water, ions could become more apparent and the
non soluble substances would have a greater chance of being detected. Collect water from the
bottom of the stream could also be beneficial. Since the samples were collected a little over a
month after the spill, these substances could have had the chance to settle to the sediment. Its
here where we could possibly detect more levels of the substances. These tests were be just a
valid because during high water events, such as the yearly spring runoff, or any disturbance of
any kind, could displace this sediment and cause the metals to become present.