Earth Systems Water Quality Nitrates resources projects Land Use Atmosphere Systems

1997 Environmental Science Institute Water Quality: Nitrates Resources GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) student research GREEN (Global Rivers Environmental Education Network) watersheds and environmental stewardship Projects NOTE: These projects are works in progress. They display varying levels of ecological understanding. Please contact the individual authors before using this material in your classroom or for your homework! 03. Nitrate loading caused by golf course maintenance by Richard Weber, Leonard Freidhof. Our project deals with nitrate loading caused by golf course maintenance. Our hypothesis is that the course fertilizing and water schedules will have minimal influence on nitrate concentrations surrounding streams. Through our talks with other teams we believe that most of the nitrate contamination in an urban area with a golf course would come from individual households fertilizing their lawn to an excess. Our idea is that golf courses would maintain a better schedule of fertilizing to keep costs to a minimum and maximize their profits from dues and course fees. 11. Nitrate loading of stream waters: an agricultural vs suburban comparison by Jim Bauer, Terry Bauer, Sophia Hu. A small land area comprised of distinct agricultural and suburban areas was monitored over a period of three days in order to ascertain the relative contribution of each land use type on nitrate loading of streams. One site near an urban area was also sampled for comparison purpose. While time and transportation constraints made a more extensive investigation impossible, some interesting data was collected. Two different nitrate test kits were compared with respect to ease of use and potential reliability of the results returned by each test. Even though considerably more extensive testing is needed, the data showed some correlation between nitrate concentration found and type of land use employed in each specific area. 14. Nitrates correlation to insect population by Jeffrey Boyle, Anne Zellinger, Kevin Young. Problem: Can resident insect populations be used to determine water quality? This problem was explored in the area near Princeton. It was found that in addition to dissolved oxygen levels, the general health of the body of water was a critical factor in the number of insect larvae observed. 20. Nitrate concentrations in urban vs rural areas by Wayne Cowell, Nancy Gettman, Mark Little, Elmer Romero. Is there a higher nitrate concentration in water from rural areas when compared to urban areas? It is hypothesized that surface water obtained from agricultural practices will contain higher levels of nitrate concentrations when compared to water obtained from urban/suburban areas. 25. Nitrate loading of streams by Nancy Vawter, Annie Wells, Helen Ballard, Gloria Stallworth. What is "nitrate loading" of streams? How is it caused? What is the effect on the biosphere? What factors may reduce the contamination? Nitrate loading of streams is the response to ground water runoff from fertilized lawns of homes, golf courses, and agricultural fields. The source of these contaminants include everything from livestock manure, fertilizers, and mining metals to suburban lawn chemicals. When rain water washes over land, it carries these contaminants into streams or drains down into the ground water. By the time these contaminants reach the streams they are in excess and thereby "loads" the stream in a disproportionate ratio to the amount of water. 28. Nitrogen contibution to the acidity of acid rain by Theresa Foote, Ron Ulrich. Nitrogen compounds are essential nutrients for plants, and nitrates are the only form in which plants can take in nitrogen. Plants use nitrates from the soil which, over time, can deplete the soil of nitrates and make it difficult for future crops to grow and thrive. To help solve this problem, people treat the soil with nitrogen-based fertilizers and lawn treatments. When nitrogen-based fertilizers are used, any excess nitrates can filter down into the groundwater supplies and contaminate wells. Nitrates are commonly used to indicate the overall quality of drinking water. Atmospheric deposition is the second-most prevalent source of nitrogen. The combustion of fossil fuels, industrial and agricultural discharges of nitrogen-containing gases, aerosols, and air-borne particles contribute to the atmospheric nitrogen load. Studies have shown that rainfall is the chief means by which biologically available nitrogen (nitrate, ammonia, some organic N) is transported to aquatic systems from the atmosphere. 50. Does the concentration of nitrate in soil affect the concentration of nitrates in the water downstream? by Deanie Anderson, Ron Campbell, Connie Cusick, Mari Knutson. Study Rationale: Nitrate compounds are known to be highly soluble in water. If they are present in the soil they will dissolve in any water that is present. The resulting nitrate ions will be highly mobile. They will move downward into ground water areas or into adjacent streams. We hypothesize that soils that are found to have high concentrations of nitrate will have a positive effect on the concentration of nitrates found in the water downstream. Abstracts by Linda Padwa.

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation webmaster@woodrow.org
CN 5281, Princeton NJ 08543-5281 Tel:(609)452-7007 Fax:(609)452-0066