Water Quality Index Of Kalamazoo River

In order to determine the water quality index of the Kalamazoo River in Albion, Michigan, a series of tests were conducted. The testing began on May 14, 2018, in the Albion Nature Center. Samples of water were taken from the Kalamazoo River to test the quality of the water. The data obtained from the samples have a corresponding value that is multiplied by a weighting factor to give a total. The sum of all the totals from each test gives a value from 0-100. In this range there are levels that determine the quality of the water: very bad, bad, medium, good, and excellent. The tests include dissolved Oxygen, Fecal Coliform, pH, biochemical Oxygen demand, temperature, total Phosphate, Nitrates, turbidity, and total solids. Dissolved Oxygen is the amount of Oxygen in the water and the test resulted in 38% saturation, giving a

The value 10.23 was added to the index due to the pH of the water, which measures the acidity. The pH was found to be 7.5. Biochemical Oxygen demand is the amount of dissolved Oxygen used by microorganisms in the water and gave 0.00 ppm which corresponds to the value 10.56. The water temperature of 14 degrees Celsius resulted in the value 8.70. The total Phosphates resulted in 1 ppm and the Nitrates resulted in 5 ppm, giving the values 3.90 and 6.5 respectively. Phosphates help with plant growth, while Nitrates cause disease if found in abundance. The turbidity determines how clear a body of water is. In the site in Albion, the turbidity was found to be 3 feet and 5 inches, giving 0.40 to the total. Finally, the total solids added 4.76 to the total water quality index because it was 240 ppm. Total solids measure dissolved and undissolved material in a body of water. The final sum of values was 57.35, which means the quality of the water is medium. Because there is life in the river, this is a fairly accurate