Unwanted: Ammonia

Researched By: Azy and Julia 

Is their ammonia in our school water system

Introduction:

In our school, the water pipes are very old. Because of this chemicals and minerals get into the water we drink every day. We are testing the water for different chemicals. Our group is testing for ammonia in the water.

What is ammonia?

Ammonia is a highly dangerous and toxic chemical. It's chemical composition is NH4. Even in small quantities it is extremely dangerous especially to fish. Ammonia is created by excretion of fish live stock and humans, protein in uneaten or dead animal and areas that breakdown nitrate into ammonia. Ammonia has to be cleaned out by trained professionals to make sure the levels don't get to high.
How does ammonia gets into the water?

Ammonia gets into water due to fish excretion sending it directly into the water. Ammonia is also caused by dead animal in the water.

Types of ammonia?

There are three types of ammonia, total ammonia (NH3) free ammonia (NH4+) and ammonium (NH3). Free ammonia is the type of ammonia that is highly toxic to fish. It is usually present in lakes, with high temperature and a high pH.
Our experiments:

To find out whether or not we had ammonia in our school water, we perform a test.

Procedure: kind of water

-Measure 10 ml of the water substance into the calibrated tube.

-Add 1 drop of ammonia test solution #1 to the water sample. Mix.

-Then Add 8 drops of ammonia solution #2 to the water sample. Mix.

-If ammonia nitrogen is present in sample, a yellow color will develop. Wait 8-10 minutes for color development. (Note: The sample can be poured into large well of the chemplate to await the time)
Our results for ammonia:

we have test for ammonia in our school ( School of the future) and 8 other school in our district.

School of the Future (our school): has no ammonia
Ms 104: has no ammonia but has a green tings
Ps 11: Has no ammonia but has a green tings
Ps 236: no ammonia, water was crystal clear
Ps 116: No ammonia, with clear water
Ps 131: No ammonia, but has green tinge
Ps 42: No ammonia, with clear water
Beacon: No ammonia, with clear water
FIT: no ammonia, clear water
Discussion:

These results mean that there is no ammonia in the drinking water of these nine schools. This is a good thing in our opinion because we do not need ammonia for our systems and too much of it can be lethal. However we could be wrong because of errors. That means that there's a chance that one of our test came up falsely negative. This might of been caused by accidentally putting in an extra drop of ammonia solution #2. 

Not having ammonia in our water means avoiding the damages that can be caused by ammonia poisoning which painful and sometimes deadly. However, ammiona can also kill some bacteria in the water. In a very, very, very, very small amount it would not be lethal and actually make the water cleaner and safer for us to drink. In this aspect it kind of acts like hydrogen peroxide in cleaning a cut. It can kill bacteria. Ammonia also links to many other components. Some of these components are nitrogen. Nitrogen connects to ammonia because when fish dies they release ammonia into the water which is lethal to other fish. However when it is coupled with nitrogen it turns into harmless ammonium. Ammonia also connects to nitrogen because if they are too much nitrogen in the water, it kills fish and if consumed by pregnant woman infants have a higher chance of getting Blue Baby syndrome. Ammonia helps to neutralize the nitrogen. Ammonia also connects with turbidity in which when the water is dirty (cloudy). Phosphorous connect with ammonia because it makes algae gather at the top of the lake and kills the fishes.

Citations

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/water/ammonia.htm