Turbidity test measures the clarity of water. Primary contributors to turbidity include clay, silt, finely divided organic and inorganic matter, soluble colored organic compounds, plankton, and microscopic organisms. Turbidity is the amount of "junk" in your water. This junk composed of minerals and waste floating around. Increase turbidity means increase minerals and waste.

Turbid waters also block sunlight, preventing photosynthesis and increasing water temperature. Photosynthesis is important because plants need it to make food from sunlight and water. Photosynthesis depends on sunlight. The turbid waters blocks the sunlight from getting to the plants in the ocean or lake ground, which prevents them from performing photosynthesis. Turbid waters also decreases the amount of oxygen in the water. Increase water temperature puts fishes' life at risk. Turbid waters absorbs heat. Fishes can only withstand some amount of heat. If the hear becomes too high or low, they might not survive.

The Procedure we used to measure turbidity:

• Gather up the Materials: 2 turbidity Column, Tap water, Sample water (water you want to test), stirring rod, and Standard Turbidity Reagent.
• Take the two turbidity column, and put 50 mL of the sample water in one turbidity column and 50mL of Tap water.
• Then place the 2 tubes side by side and note the difference in clarity. If the black dot is equally clear in both tubes, the turbidity is zero. If the black dot in the sample water tube in less clear, Then take the standard Turbidity Reagent. Add 0.5 mL to the "clear water" tube. Stir the content with a stirring rod to distribute the turbid particles equally. Look at the black dots. If the turbidity of the sample water is greater than taht of the clear water, continue to add turbidity reagent to 0.5 mL increment to the clear water tube, mixing after each addition until the turbidity equals that of the sample water. Record the volume of the turbidity reagent added. Each 0.5 mL addition of turbidty reagent to the 50mL size sample equals 5 jackson Turbidity Units (JTU). If a 25 mL sample size is used, each 0.5 mL addition equals 10JTU. (Remember to record all observations.)

Here are my Results and Observations to this experiment:

• The sample was clear than the sterile water (I used sterile water as my Tap water), but the sample water (My sample water was school fountain water) was kind of yellowish.
• There was bubbles in the sterile water but not in the school water.
• Sterile water: very clear, has bubbles, and very white.
• Sample water (School's fountain water): clear, has no bubbles, water looks yellowish.

After doing this experiment i came to a conclusion that our school water was no turbidity because in both the sample water and the tap water you could see that black dot.

Discussion:

This student thinks that our school water is safe to drink. After doing the turbidity test, it was found that the school water has low turbidity, or none at all. If a school has high turbidity, it is due to contaminants such as microscopic organisms from pipes as well as from rusty pipes themselves. It is recommended that the school contact a professional to check turbidity in school water. High turbidity can be cause by Phosphorous, and Alkalinity.