Chapter Four: I'd Describe It As "More Exciting Than Sliced Bread Probably Was," But That's Just My Opinion (feat. Bruce Hungate, Melanie, Jamie, Jeff)

How exciting do you think sliced bread was for people? I mean, they always say, "the best thing since sliced bread," but is that saying much? Is sliced bread all that exciting? Sure, it lets you make yourself a sandwich, but I personally think that using pita bread to make handheld edibles is much more enjoyable.

Anyways, this week marks an exciting advancement in my project. While the research portion slowed down this week, I did have that meeting with Dr. Bruce Hungate, director of the Environmental Analysis Lab at Northern Arizona University. We talked about my sample, Lake Mary's water, and the likes, and he agreed to allow me to use the lab to test my water. But it gets better! He and the staff of the lab (Melanie, Jamie, and Jeff) are letting me intern in the lab! This entails weighing samples on a microgram balance, operating some of the complicated machinery that allows for isolation of certain materials, and helping out wherever I can.

In other news, I've looked more into different methods of treatment, especially ozone treatment. Ozone, used extensively in Europe but less so in the United States, is similar to chlorine treatment in that it disinfects the water, but it also is able to break down algae and other organic matter, all without using chemicals. The problem is that ozone is much more expensive than chlorine to implement. Further, ozone doesn't provide a residual due to the fact that it doesn't use those chemicals. While this eliminates the unwanted effects of residual, it opens up the possibility of microbial infection after distribution. And even further, it still can produce disinfection byproducts in the form of ketones and aldehydes (compounds with a carbonyl group, or a carbon-oxygen double bond). Ozone looks like it could have a future, but current running costs of ozone treatment make it not an option. More information on ozone treatment can be found here.

This upcoming week, I'll start my internship at the lab, as well as continue to research the process. I need to look into what levels I need to run significance tests (so that I can compare my water sample to previous water samples) as well as look into previous samples' levels of TTHM and HAA5. I'll hopefully be able to analyze for methanes and halogens in my sample.

Looking forward to the next week!

End of Chapter Four.