Citation: Readel, Karin (2000).

An Estuary Gone Bad: Will the Snails

Survive. Science 100; Water, An Interdisciplinary Study. UMBC Baltimore MD.

An Estuary Gone Bad: Will the Snails Survive?

Objectives:
At the end of this lab you should be able to:
Successfully use a LabQuest and conductivity probe, with minimal guidance
Explain how conductivity and salinity are related
Explain and demonstrate how to make serial dilutions
Explain why serial dilutions are sometimes necessary when making solutions
Construct a standard curve and explain its function
Use a standard curve to interpret an unknown sample
Use MS Excel to create a graph with a best-fit line
Your task this week:
This week, each lab group represents a different company that conducts water testing for
governmental agencies. Each group has received a water sample obtained from an estuary in
eastern Maryland (there are pictures of the estuary on your bench). There has been a huge
increase in the amount of construction and development near the estuary over the past 3 years,
and the Department of Natural Resources is concerned that it is adversely affecting the water
quality, specifically the salinity. Historically the salinity of the estuary has been between 2 and 4
parts per thousand (ppt). There are some protected species of snails living in the area, which
cannot tolerate a salinity of more than 6 ppt for an extended period of time. If the salinity has
exceeded that concentration, all development will be stopped until the cause is determined. Each
company is responsible for designing an experiment using a conductivity probe, which will
determine the salt content of the water sample, and thus the estuary. Background information
about salinity and conductivity starts on the next page. Directions for using the conductivity
probes (which are pre-calibrated) are outlined at the end of this document. Discuss your
experimental design within your group and then create a flowchart or outline of the steps you
plan to take. Please get your plan approved by one of your instructors before you begin testing
samples.
Here are a few hints:
You know that the salt content of the water sample is between 1 and 10 ppt.
You also know that the primary ions responsible for the salinity are sodium and chloride
(so you dont need to worry about any other ions).
You can assume that the salinity is uniform throughout this estuary, and that your sample
is representative of the entire estuary.
Use distilled water (not tap water) for any solutions that you make. Measure everything
carefully!! Make sure the balances are set to the appropriate mode.
You will need to graph your data in class- you may wish to save the graph on a disk, or
post it on your groups file exchange in Blackboard.
You will be provided with everything necessary to complete this exercise, including 500
ml of a standard NaCl solution at a concentration of 10 g/L (ppt)

Background Information:
One of the most obvious characteristics of seawater is its salinity its saltiness. The taste of
seawater is primarily due to a variety of salts, which dissociate into ions when placed in water.
The two most abundant ions are chloride (Cl) and sodium (Na+). Together these two ions
comprise more than 90% of the ions in seawater. The salt content of water can be estimated in
two ways: as chloride content and as salinity.
Chloride
Chloride is one of the major inorganic anions, or negative ions, in both saltwater and freshwater.
It originates from natural minerals, saltwater intrusion into estuaries, and industrial pollution.
There are many possible sources of manmade salts
that may contribute to elevated chloride readings.
Sodium chloride and calcium chloride, used to salt
roads, contribute to elevated chloride levels in streams.
Chlorinated drinking water and sodium chloride water
softeners often increase chloride levels in wastewater
of a community.

Sources of Chloride Ions

River streambeds with
salt-containing minerals
Runoff from salted roads
Irrigation water returned to streams

In drinking water, the salty taste produced by chloride

depends upon the concentration of the chloride ion.
Water containing 250 mg/L of chloride may have a
detectable salty taste if the chloride came from sodium
chloride. The recommended maximum level of
chloride in U.S. drinking water is 250 mg/L.

Mixing of seawater with freshwater

Chlorinated drinking water
Water softener regeneration

Salinity
Salinity, on the other hand, is a measure of the total amount of non-carbonate salts dissolved in
water. The salinity in seawater is fairly constant, at about 35 ppt (ppt = 1 part per thousand, or 1
g/L), while brackish estuaries may have salinities between 1 and 10 ppt. Salinity is an important
measurement in seawater or in estuaries where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with
salty ocean water, since aquatic organisms have varying abilities to survive and thrive at
different salinity. Saltwater organisms survive in salinity up to 40 ppt, yet many freshwater
organisms cannot live in levels above 1 ppt. Compared to seawater or brackish water, freshwater
has much lower levels of salt ions such as Na+ and Cl; in fact, these ions are often lower in
concentration than hard-water ions such calcium (Ca2+) and bicarbonate (HCO3).
Increased salinity has been observed in the lower reaches of the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers,
due to return of irrigation water. In these arid regions of the United States, water readily
evaporates during irrigation, resulting in high concentrations of salt ions in the water returned to
the rivers.
Conductivity
When an ionic compound, such as sodium chloride, dissolves in water, it dissociates into ions
and the resulting solution conducts electricity. A conductivity meter can be used to measure the
flow of electricity and determine the ionic strength of the solution. The flow of electricity is
directly proportional to the number of ions in the solution- the more ions there are, the greater
the conductivity of the solution. The conductivity of seawater is mainly due to sodium and
chloride ions- changes in the concentrations of these two ions will alter the overall conductivity

of the solution. Long-term fluctuations in the conductivity of a body of water may indicate the
presence of contamination this concept forms the basis for todays lab exercise.

Directions on Using the Conductivity Probe:

1. You will use the Vernier LabQuest and conductivity probe for this test. Make sure the
LabQuest is plugged in and turned on, and plug the conductivity probe in to Channel 1.
2. Make sure the switch on the conductivity probe is set to the 0 20,000 S range.
3. Place the probe into a beaker or flask containing the solution you are testing. The hole
near the tip of the probe must be completely submerged.
4. Wait for the value to stabilize and record it.
5. Rinse the conductivity probe off with distilled water and dry it with kimwipes.
6. IMPORTANT NOTE: You MUST rinse the probe thoroughly with distilled water and dry
it completely between samples. If you do not do this, you risk contaminating your
samples.
7. After you have thoroughly rinsed and dried the probe, place it in the next sample you
wish to test and wait for the value to stabilize.
8. When you are done collecting data, turn the LabQuest off. Make sure the probe has been
thoroughly cleaned and dried.

Clean-up:
When your group has completed this exercise and determined the salinity of the estuary sample,
you need to completely clean up your lab table. Please wash all dirty glassware thoroughly and
rinse with distilled water. Wipe down your lab table if you have spilled any salt water. Make
sure that the conductivity probe is thoroughly clean and dry. Unplug the probe from the
LabQuest.

Assignments:
Prepare an individual lab report to be printed out and turned in at the beginning of lab next
week. Please read the document How to Write a Lab Report before you start writing the report.
Additionally, you will want to refer to the Lab Report Grading Guidelines for this lab. You can
find both of those documents in the Lab Material folder on Blackboard. They are located in a
folder titled How to Write Lab Report. These documents explain the general format to follow
and what type of information to include. Please feel free to contact any of us if you need any

advice, guidance, feedback, etc. as you write this first report. We will be glad to assist in any
way we can.

Lab Review Questions:

1. Circle the letter that corresponds to your estuary sample and write the name of the estuary
below.

2. What was the salinity of the unknown estuary sample based on your standard curve? How
did you figure that out?

3. What were the concentrations (g/l) of the NaCl solutions that you made to construct your
standard curve? Please note that concentrations are NOT the same as volumes or ratios!!