Results

Upon adding the mixed liquor, which had a dark drown color, to the dechlorinated fresh water one can notice that the newly created sample had a light brown tinge and small pieces of human waste. The sample after a day had more solid pieces that were attached throughout the petri dish. Upon creating the control, sea water, and freshwater samples one can observe the visual differences between the samples. The fresh water (before the addition of the mixed liquor) and saltwater were both clear and after the addition of the cultures grown in the Petri dish the fresh water sample started to acquire a brown tinge. The pieces of human waste that were from the petri dish sample tended to rest at the bottom of the sample. The sea water upon acquiring it from the sea had a lighter brown shade than the mixed liquor when it was mixed with water but it was darker than the color the fresh water had when it was mixed with the bacteria from the Petri dish. The fertilizer used to preserve the bacteria dispersed inside the sample. Upon mixing the samples with crude oil, many more observations were drawn. The crude oil floated to the top of all the samples. Thus the chemical remained suspended in the mixture. The crude oil started to disperse within the water quicker in the control sample as well as the sample with Fresh water. The salt water sample had crude oil that took longer to disperse. As the experiment proceeded there was plenty of qualitative data that was taken. As the days progressed the samples turned a darker color, this was true for all the samples. Another observation that is worth noting is the fact that the human waste/bacteria in the fresh water increased in size. Overall, these were all the visible changes that could be noted.

The first test that was conducted on the samples would be the TOC analyzer. However, due to some lag in testing the results will not be in the experimenter’s possession till January 26^th, 2011. Upon receiving the information from the TOC analyzer as well as from the TPH analyzer the experimenter will include those results as well as the appropriate graphs and other illustration in a revised results and discussion.

 The results of the PH test are illustrated in figure 1 below. The pH value for sea water was lower and more acidic than that of the control and fresh water. As 7 is neither basic nor acidic one the control and sea water samples both were neither basic nor acidic if one disregarded the average. The mode and the median was the same for the control and sea water and the two samples had the same standard deviation of 0.5 as well. The control and sea water samples also contained outliers. The outlier would be 8 for the control and 6 for the freshwater sample.  Thus only the sea water was actually acidic.

Figure 1: pH Test

	Monday, January 17, 2011	Tuesday January 18, 2011	Wednesday January 19, 2011	Thursday January 20, 2011	Average	mode	median
Control	8	7	7	7	7.25	7	7
Sea Water	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Freshwater	7	6	7	7	6.75	7	7

           

Upon conducting the t-test on the samples and comparing them to the data one would have gotten had they taken the pH of just water. The pH of water is seven, and when it is comparatively analyzed against the control and fresh water sample the p value for both was p=0.391 at six degrees of freedom. When referring to the table one can see that the null hypothesis should be rejected.

            Figure 2 below showcases a histogram that shows how the averages and standard deviations from the 3 different samples compare. One can see that the sea water had the lowest average pH level as well no standard deviation. The other two samples had the standard deviations and the fresh water’s +1 standard deviation corresponded with the control’s average. As far as acidic to basic goes when deriving from this graph one can say that the sea water was the most acidic followed by the fresh water which is less acidic and increasingly basic and then the control is the most basic of all the samples.