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Narragansett Bay: Introduction
Water Quality
Methods
Observations
Results
Discussion
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Water Quality
Coral Disease
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Hypothesis and Methods
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Conclusions
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References | Narragansett
Bay
Methods
Six
locations were sampled in Narragansett Bay, RI, on October 4, 2008, and November 15, 2008, including the Seekonk River at the Boys and Girls Club of
Pawtucket, Bristol
at Roger
Williams
University,
the Seekonk
River
at India
Point
Park,
Greenwich
Bay
at Greenwich Bay Marina, Narragansett at the University of Rhode Island
Graduate School of Oceanography, and Wakefield
at East Matunuk State Beach. Click
here
to see a large map of these locations.
These
locations were chosen in order to obtain samples from a variety of diverse
locations in the bay, and to also target areas that had already been shown to
have differing water qualities. Areas of diverse water quality are of
interest in order to evaluate the reasons for the different qualities, the
environmental impacts of different water qualities, and the policies that are
currently focused at improving areas with poorer water quality. Historical
water quality data was obtained from the Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management’s BART program. The following are the predicted water
qualities of four of the sample sites according to BART locations that are in
close proximity to the selected sites:
|
BART
site
|
Sample
site
|
BART
data
|
|
Seekonk River/Phillipsdale (downstream of Bucklin
WWTF)
|
Boys and Girls Club of Pawtucket
|
"Polluted with nutrients and pathogens.
Heavily influenced by combined sewage overflow (CSO) and WWTF discharges.
Regularly anoxic during the summer in bottom waters."
|
|
Roger
Williams University
|
Roger
Williams University
|
"TBD"
|
|
Greenwich Bay Marina
|
Greenwich Bay Marina
|
"Polluted with nutrients and pathogens.
Conditions are variable. Bay area is vulnerable to hypoxia and occasional
anoxia throughout the water column."
|
|
URI
Graduate School
of Oceanography Dock
|
URI
Graduate School
of Oceanography
|
"Very good water quality.
Well-flushed."
|
The Seekonk
River at India
Point
Park
and Wakefield at East Matunuk State Beach were selected because
they are both very different locations in terms of human influence. India Point Park is in Providence,
adjacent to major highways and high population density. The waters of the Seekonk River at India Point Park, in relation to the Boys and Girls Club of Pawtucket, are closer to a more well flushed
location but are also hypothesized to experience effects of high human
activity in the area. East Matunuk
was chosen because it appears to be in an even more well flushed location than
the URI Graduate School of Oceanography dock, and may serve as a good
comparison to the URI location.
Water samples were taken at the
shoreline
in 50mL plastic vials that were then frozen until analyzed in the
lab. LaMotte Estuary and Marine Monitoring Kit was used to measure pH,
nitrate, phosphate, and dissolved oxygen saturation at each location on
both dates. Test results were ranked according to the standards stated in the LaMotte Kit:
| Test Factor | Result | Ranking | pH
| 4
5
6
7
8
9
10 | 1 (poor)
1 (poor)
3 (good)
4 (excellent)
3 (good)
1 (poor)
1 (poor) | | Nitrate | 5 ppm
20 ppm
40 ppm | 2 (fair)
1 (poor)
1 (poor) | | Phosphate | 1 ppm
2 ppm
4 ppm | 4 (excellent)
3 (good)
2 (fair) | | Dissolved oxygen saturation | 91-110%
71-90%
51-70%
<50% | 4 (excellent)
3 (good)
2 (fair)
1 (poor) |
|
