School Summer Holiday Fun in the Hof
On a bright and sunny day in January, two young local scientists, Rebecca Latham (age 7) and Hannah Latham (age 5), visited the Kirstenhof Duckpond and Westlake River for an important mission—water quality testing!
The girls noticed that the water in the Duckpond is always higher than the water in the nearby River so they wondered if the water in the Duckpond has the same quality as the water in the River. This became their school summer holiday mission. Armed with a bucket, chemical test strips, special biological growth media and a whole lot of enthusiasm, the dynamic duo carefully collected water samples from the pond and river. |
Their first observation? The smell! “Phew!” was the unanimous verdict. The cousins then recorded the water temperature, being 22°C in the Duckpond and 18°C in the River. With keen precision, they dipped test strips into the water samples, eagerly watching as the colors appeared, revealing the water’s chemical properties.
Later, at Granddad’s house, they put the sample water into special containers which showed the amount of bacteria in the water.
All of their results were uploaded to the WaterCAN Project website. A WaterCAN report was generated which showed that there was very little difference in the chemical and biological content between these two nearby, but seemingly unconnected, bodies of water.
All the chemical results are good but both the Duckpond and the River contain lots of bacteria and some of those bacteria can make you ill.
During winter the Duckpond will be at its highest level and the River will be flowing. The water needs to be tested again to find out if the water quality relationship between the two bodies of water remains the same under these different conditions.
As the young scientists wrapped up their first successful scientific investigation, their findings will help our community stay informed about the water quality of our rivers and water bodies.
