Discussion

            The major findings in this section are that the sea water was more acidic than any of the other samples. Another major finding is that the crude oil took longer to disperse in the sea water sample then any of the other samples. Another major finding is that the sea water bacteria was more efficient overall in the digestion of the crude. The last major finding is that the solids in the mixed liquor grew in size over the course

of the experiment.

            Now going back to the first finding the fact that the sea water is more acidic is not due to the fact that the sea water contains salt. This is because the sea water/salt water places as an 7- 8 on the pH scale. In fact, this mixture is considered a weak alkali. Thus the only difference between this sample and the two others are not the reason for the surprising difference in the acidic levels. However, as this water came from Galveston, a utopia for oil rigs, there is already a great abundance of crude oil in the water. Then upon adding more crude oil to the water the water became more acidic.  Now the reason that this water was more acidic than the rest was due to the fact that the crude oil added to the other samples floated on the top as it did in the sea water sample but as already stated the sea water had crude oil dispersed within the sample. This makes a difference as to take the pH level one must put the strip within the water and as the other two samples only had crude oil on the top and not dispersed evenly within the crude oil did not factor into the overall pH level of the sample, while the sea water already had the existing crude oil mixed within.

            However, the finding of the sea water being more acidic than basic is contradictory to one site which states that “In the ocean…a pH of 8 is found…” (Report of Royal Society 2005). Now from the introduction the introduction one knows that crude oil escapes from sea bed through natural occurrences as well as human facilitated ones. Thus crude oil would be present in all samples of sea water. Crude oil is definitely acidic as it facilitates corrosion in many forms. However, in the report the crude oils acidity does not seem to factor in the overall acidic level of the ocean water. Thus the results of this experiment are not in correlation with the facts reported by a government database.
            The sea water bacteria was more efficient in the digestion of crude oil due to the fact that the bacteria in the water had previously an environment that had a source of crude oil in the water already. On the other hand, the bacteria in the fresh water had to be acclimated to the environment and food source. On thing to note however is that there was a lag period before the bacteria in the sea water started to digest bacteria. To figure out the reason for the lag period one would have to conduct further and more in depth research on the anatomy and habits of the sea water bacteria.

            The crude oils lag in dispersing in the sea water environment showcases why most companies need to use dispersant when an oil spill occurs. Unlike the fresh water environment the salt water environment restricts the dispersing of oil within the medium. The last major finding was the enlarging of the solids in the fresh water samples, the reason for that enlarging would be the abundance of nutrient the bacteria on the solids would receive. One must remember in the Petri dish the bacteria did not get as much crude oil to digest as they would in the sample. Thus this sudden food source caused an overall growth in the bacteria which are presumably the solids as mixed liquor is a liquefied version of human waste. 

            There are three sources of major errors. The first source directly effects the result of the pH test. When testing with the strips the colors for the different pH levels tend to be very similar to a point. Humans cannot catch the color difference very well and thus have to call it to the very best of their ability. Also as the strips only give a whole number as the pH level, one cannot be sure which way the solution actually leans. This can mess up the results as the difference between a 6.0 and 7.8 can be the difference between an acid and a base. The next major mistake would be the shaking of the container in order to get the crude oil dispersed within the container before the taking of the sample. As one cannot keep exact consistency of shaking there is a chance that one was shaken more than another. This could lead to more crude oil in one sample as the experimenter takes the sample from within the container not from the top. The last major source of error is in essence systematic, this is due to the fact that the crude oil started to stick to the sides of the glass container and a lot of crude oil was lost in that way.

            Once again the problem behind which this experiment was born was whether crude oil was digested better with salt water organisms rather than fresh water organisms. The hypothesis was proved accurate as the sea water did digest a greater range of crude oil over the six days that this experiment was conducted.  The results show that oil companies should concentrate in drilling for oil in sea water environment on the basis that in case an oil spill occurs clean up would be more effective in this environment rather than the other environment.

            In the future scientists would want to concentrate on whether dispersant would improve performance in ocean bacteria compared to fresh water bacteria. Another project that can aide the future of oil research would be for scientists to see whether a large amount of added crude oil from oil spills would affect the acidity level of the water. As the project showcased there is a discrepancy between the acidity level of water with a natural amount of crude oil compared to when a human introduces large level of crude oil.