Water quality testing on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation
Environmental Studies- Grade:
- 11
- Teacher:
- Carol Seanez
In many homes, sink water is used to drink as well as to cook. However, sink water is not always completely safe or free of contaminates. Sink water can contain heavy metals such as lead, copper, iron, natural contaminates, nitrites/nitrates, pesticides, forever chemicals, and microbiological contaminates that include bacterium and parasites. While most contaminates are safe in small quantities the ingestion over time can cause health risks. The purpose of my research is to understand the quality of the water that my communities use daily. Questions What levels of common contaminates are present in the sink water on the Pascua Yaqui Tribal land, if any? How does the quality of water differ from New Pascua compared to Old Pascua? Hypothesis I believe the sink water from the testing locations in Old Pascua may contain heavy metals and contain more contaminates compared to the sink water samples from homes in New Pascua.
Nicely controlled project.
Safe drinking water is so important and I appreciated your excellent sampling design that included a control and four sampling locations. The methods used were highly detailed and helped me understand exactly how the data were collected. More than anything, I enjoyed learning from your perspective what future research questions could be and how these data can be used to make water safer in your community. Well done with your project!