Science Grade 8

W3 - Lesson 5: Water Quality

V5-07
 Important Concepts of Grade 8 Science Materials
Required
W1 - Lesson 1 ...................................................................... Mass, Volume, and Density
W1 - Lesson 2 ............................................................. Solubility and Saturation Points
Textbook:
W1 - Lesson 3A ...................................................... Viscosity, Flow Rate, and Buoyancy
Science in
W1 - Lesson 3B .................................................................................... Simple Machines
Action 8
W1 - Lesson 4 .................Gears, Mechanical Advantage, Speed Ratios, and Efficiency
W1 - Lesson 5 .....................................................................Hydraulics and Pneumatics
W1- Quiz
W2 - Lesson 1 ....The Role of Cells within Living Things, Cells-Tissue-Organ System
W2 - Lesson 2 ......................................................................................... The Microscope
W2 - Lesson 3 ................................................................................ Body Systems Part 1
W2 - Lesson 4 ................................................................................ Body Systems Part 2
W2 - Lesson 5 ................................................ Problems Associated with Body Systems
W2 - Quiz
W3 - Lesson 1 ....................................................Transmission and Absorption of Light
W3 - Lesson 2 .......................................................... Reflection and Refraction of Light
W3 - Lesson 3A ...................................................................................Vision and Lenses
W3 - Lesson 3B .. Water in its Various States Affects Earth’s Landforms and Climate
W3 - Lesson 4 ........................................................ Adaptations to Aquatic Ecosystems
W3 - Lesson 5 ........................................................................................... Water Quality
W3 - Quiz ..........................................................................................................................

Science Grade 8
Version 5
Preview/Review W3 - Lesson 5

Publisher: Alberta Distance Learning Centre

Author: Kevin De Clerq
In-House Teachers: Barb Philips and Norene Pinder

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Preview/Review Concepts
for
Grade Eight Science

W3 - Lesson 5:
Water Quality
 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lesson, you should

• name and define various features of water quality

• explain how those features affect water quality

• name and explain some water quality problems

• explain some ways that water quality is determined

GLOSSARY

effluent - fluid that flows into a body water quality - the purity of a
of water from human activity sample of water

spillway - a passage for water, fish, watershed - area of land that

etc., to go around a dam drains into a body of water
Preview/Review Concepts W3 - Lesson 5 Science Grade 8

W3 - Lesson 5: Water Quality

Welcome to W3 - Lesson 5. This lesson is designed to teach you

what water quality means to the survival of a species. It should
take about 1 hour to complete this lesson. Before you go home, you
will write a short quiz on what you learned this week.

Water Quality

Water quality refers to the level of impurities in the water and the
amount of life it will support. In Alberta, many lakes, rivers, and
streams are monitored regularly to ensure that the water quality is
suitable for living organisms. This quality of water can be affected
by both natural and artificial means.

Within the environment are natural changes such as spring run

off, that allow decayed plant materials to become trapped in the
river. This causes changes in the quality and levels of the water.
An artificial means of change is acid rain created from products of
combustion, causing acid levels to affect various ecosystems.

Turbidity is best described as how clear the water is. Increased

sediment makes water very murky looking, and is described as
having high turbidity. In the spring, flooding rivers tend to have
high turbidity to the point where a city’s or a town’s water could
look quite brown.

Fish also have a problem with high turbidity because fish may not
see their predators and food supply in murky water. High levels of
suspended sediment could also clog gills.

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Science Grade 8 Preview/Review Concepts W3 - Lesson 5

Salinity also has a key role in the quality of water whether it be

in fresh or salt water. The amount of salts and other minerals
that have dissolved in the water have a direct affect on the type of
organism that can survive in that body of water. If there are high
levels of calcium and magnesium, the water is said to be hard. Soft
water contains sodium and potassium. As water travels through
a river system, it collects more salts and minerals the further it
moves; therefore, when it reaches an ocean the water may contain
high levels of salinity.

Fresh water species have difficulty living in salt water due to the
high levels of salts. Salt water species have a struggle to survive in
fresh water because of the low levels of salts.

Flow rate can affect water quality and the type of species capable
of surviving in a particular body of water. The faster the water is
flowing, the fewer the organisms able to survive the turbulence
of the water. Most game species of fish such as trout require
pea-sized gravel to lay their eggs in streams and rivers. The
flowing water provides oxygen to those eggs and removes
sediments from the gravel. If the flow rate is too
low, the suspended load of sediments in the water
deposits onto the pea gravel, and cover the eggs
with silt. This prevents oxygen from getting to
the eggs, preventing them from hatching.

Water levels also affect water quality

for fish and other aquatic organisms. If pools are not deep enough
in a river in the summer, the fish have difficulty surviving because
the water warms and releases dissolved oxygen. One factor that
affects water levels is the amount of vegetation growing along the
river banks and on the watershed. Trees actually slow the melt
rates of snow so that runoff is longer and more even.

Clearing along the river wall allows the snow to melt away quickly,
causing a week or two of flooding and then very little runoff for the
remainder of the year.

Man has used artificial means to help control the water levels by
building dams on some major rivers for the purpose of irrigation or
flood control. These dams provide a constant flow of water at the
spillway. This is good for fish species that are down river, but it
interferes with migration of fish.

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Preview/Review Concepts W3 - Lesson 5 Science Grade 8

Reservoirs behind dams may cause problems resulting from

fluctuating water levels. In the spring, the dams are at full capacity
and by the fall the water level may have dropped as much as 10
metres. Most aquatic plants grow in certain depths of water. When
the depths change dramatically, these plant species have difficulty
growing.

Activity 1

Read and understand the previous paragraphs and pages 386 and
388 in Science in Action 8. Then, answer the following questions.

1. What are four factors that affect water quality?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

2. In a slow-flowing river, what is one thing that kills fish eggs?

___________________________________________________________

3. What is the danger to aquatic ecosystems created by farmers

using herbicides and pesticides on their crops?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

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Science Grade 8 Preview/Review Concepts W3 - Lesson 5

4. What happens to water in a river when it reaches and flows into

an ocean?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

5. Why are fresh water organisms unable to live in salt water?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Water Quality Problems

A problem that the province of Alberta has encountered on some of

its rivers has to do with effluent. Effluent is the water that comes
from industrial and sewage plants and runs into rivers, streams,
or lakes. The province has set minimum standards so that this
effluent is relatively safe for plants and animals. However, constant
monitoring and strict guidelines for industry must be established
and followed to help improve already delicate aquatic ecosystems.

Sewage treatment plants have difficulty processing phosphates.

Phosphates are found in some detergents and soaps. In water, they
act like a fertilizer and promote excessive amounts of algae.

Phosphate levels are usually high in rivers downstream from

sewage treatment plants, causing an over-abundance of algae. This
growth chokes other forms of plant
life that fish survive on, thus reducing
the levels of fish in the stream.
Decomposition of dead plant matter
also robs the water of oxygen.

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Preview/Review Concepts W3 - Lesson 5 Science Grade 8

Acid rain is also a factor that reduces water quality and can
destroy all aquatic life in a lake. Many industries burn coal.
Electricity in Alberta is mostly produced by coal-burning plants.
When coal and other high sulfur fuel are burned, pollutants such
as sulfur are released into the atmosphere. These pollutants
combine with water vapor to turn rain slightly acidic. When acid
rain gets into a watersystem where there is no base to counteract
it, pH levels drop. Organisms need a specific pH range for survival.
Above or below that, the organism is harmed or killed.

Activity 2

Use the above reading to answer the following questions.

1. Why is it important to humans and aquatic life to keep

pollutants out of water?

___________________________________________________________

2. What do you suggest could be done to bring lakes that have been
killed by acid rain back to normal?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

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Science Grade 8 Preview/Review Concepts W3 - Lesson 5

Determining Water Quality

Today, researchers can determine the water quality of a body of

water. This usually means going out to the lake, river, or stream and
looking for various indicators such as the following:

• What is there for the fish to eat?

• What bugs are there?
• What is the flow rate?
• What is the turbidity of the water?
• What is the dissolved oxygen level?

Another way to determine water quality is to do some electrofishing

and look at the health of fish in the water. A researcher takes a
device that sends an electric current into the water to stun fish.
The stunned fish are collected and data is recorded such as weight,
length, evidence of parasites, the number of fish collected in a certain
area. Even the age of the fish can be determined—by collecting and
examining scales. The fish can then be released back into the water.

All of this information gives researchers better understanding of

how well game species are doing in a particular body of water and
how healthy the system is. As a result of this data, various artificial
means can be introduced to improve the water quality.

Activity 3

Read and understand the above readings and pages 400 to 401.
Then answer the following questions.

1. The Bow River has some of the best trout fishing in Alberta. This
river supplies the people of Calgary with all their water needs.
This includes both industrial and residential water. Most people
who fish the Bow River do not eat the fish they catch. Why do you
think the fish are returned to the river?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

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Preview/Review Concepts W3 - Lesson 5 Science Grade 8

2. In your area, perhaps a project is underway to enhance a body of

water, be it a lake, river, stream, or wetland. If you know about
one such project, name it and describe what was done to enhance
aquatic life.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

3. What can the information from monitoring be used for?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

4. What does a change in the number of species an aquatic

environment tell us?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Take some time to review the material you learned

this week. You will be writing a short quiz before
you go home.

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