Water Tests: SCIENCE!

Tyler Collins
South Atlanta QZ/ARTCC, Georgia, US

A shop-raiding group got a hold on some water testing kits, so I've been testing some stuff.

So, through the lists of things I tested:

Nitrates- from agriculture. We're almost exclusively on rain water now, so the stuff we drink is below the detection limit. Jackson Lake is utterly fucked, though. The test strip practically glowed from the 'positive' indicator.

Heavy Metals: The kit has a total check system that reacts with any 2+ transition metal. Unfortunately, that means that a positive result for something relatively benign, like Cu2+ could hide a positive result for something deadly, like cadmium. This result pegged on both rain water and water from Jackson Lake.

Pb/Cu test: I had to resort to what amounts to a first-year chemistry lab exercise to get a more precise idea. Using both water samples, I added a few different chemicals to each, including ammonia and hydrochloric acid. Basically by juggling these two, I was able to dissolve and precipitate lead, nickel, and copper as salts. There's a chart I used...it'd be easier to show than explain. TL;DR, there's about 14ug/mL lead in the rain water, which I was afraid of. It's just under the EPA max for drinking water, at 15ppb. Jackson Lake tested so positive, I'm surprised it hasn't started casting little figurines for us.

pH: Everyone knows what pH is. Rain normally has a pH of 5.5 or so, Our rain is right at 4.8 on the litmus (I'd tested this before, litmus paper was easier to come by than the full test kit). The lake is at 4.2. Please, kids, don't swim in that.

I don't even want to figure out what kind of intervention it'll take to fix the lake once all this blows over, not to mention the environmental consequences. As it is, I sent a few recommendations on water treatment up the chain.

The kit is also kinda non-specific, especially in the metals department. I'll see if I can talk someone into asking the commandant about testing other lakes nearby or even getting some better equipment. Doubt it'll amount to anything, but given how bad the water is maybe someone can talk them into setting up a well system.

They gave me an assistant earlier. Some guy named Aaron who was studying chemistry before it all went down. He's a good worker but there's a clear difference between a person who can run science experiments and a scientist. I can give him an itemized list and a series of instructions, but the way of thinking just isn't there yet. He'll get better at it.

Do what you can to keep yourselves safe out there from all dangers, not just the nibble-happy neighbors.