Water Nutrient Samples

Submitted by Hayden Campbell on June 11, 2013
Location: Silver Creek in Park City

For my iFellow research project, I am looking at the error associated with taking nutrient samples from below a wastewater treatment plant.  I am looking at possible errors such as the location of sampling, filtering, freezing, and errors from handling the samples during analysis.  For my sample collection, I went to Park City with my mentor, Michelle Baker, and two graduate students to sample from Silver Creek, along which lies a wastewater treatment plant. 

We collected samples above and below where the filtered water from the treatment plant entered into the stream as well as a section of the filtered water from the treatment plant before it entered the stream.  While collecting the samples, we gathered grab samples and filtered a portion of them using both a manual syringe and an electric pump.  These samples will later be analyzed for key nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient compounds.  After analysis, I will look at the nutrient measurements and determine what techniques used in sampling have the potential to create error. This is especially important because we want to be able to report accurate nutrient measurements, particularly below wastewater treatment plants, to ensure that treatment plants are adequately doing their job in removing nutrients.  An excess of nutrients can ultimately be harmful to animals living in the water.