COLEGIO DE MUNTINLUPA

Posadas Ave., Sucat, Muntinlupa City

NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

Dissolved Oxygen Levels in Natural Waters

Abstract

In order to determine the amount of dissolved

oxygen in the water sample you can to use the basic principles
of stoichiometry in this experiment. Oxygen needed to convert
into iodine in order to fix the dissolved oxygen using the
Wrinkler method. This process is important in the analysis of
dissolved oxygen in the water sample because it fixes the
amount of oxygen present in the sample water, and this can be
set aside for several hours without changing the dissolved
oxygen concentration. The dissolved oxygen concentration of
the first sample which is a tap water is about 8 ppm (mg/L) in
a 300-mL water sample while the second sample also a tap
water has a dissolved oxygen concentration of 5.3 ppm (mg/L)
in a 300-mL water sample. This was done by computing for the
moles of Na2S2O3
and by computing for the mass of oxygen given the volume of
the Na2S2O3 dispensed and its concentration,
converting the mass of oxygen to number of moles. The mole
Na2S2O3 of the first sample is 0.0003 mol Na2S2O3 while the mole
of Na2S2O3 of the second sample record 0.0002 mol Na2S2O3.
After this process, the researchers compute for the moles
of I3- which would be 0.000150 mol I3- for the first water sample
and 0.0001 mol I3- for the second water sample. The
researchers conclude that fixing the water must be done
immediately after collecting or else it will result into low

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 COLEGIO DE MUNTINLUPA
Posadas Ave., Sucat, Muntinlupa City

NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

dissolved oxygen concentration. It is done in the experiment in

order to fix the dissolved oxygen means converting
the dissolved oxygen into a compound that cannot escape from
the solution, and it can be used as a good analysis of the
amount of dissolved oxygen in the water sample. The
researchers found out that the average ppm of the two
water samples is equal to 6.65 ppm. Most aquatic fishes’ lives in
a range of 5 ppm and above. Thus, the researchers concluded
that the experiment’s water samples are good for the fishes
to live in that kind of sample.

Keywords: Dissolved oxygen, water, ppm, Wrinkler method, fish

Introduction

It is considered that one of the most important

parameters in determining water quality is to find out the
amount of dissolved oxygen level by distinguishing some
contaminants existing in the surface water. Discharged of
organic matters derived from municipal sewage or industrial
wastes, and runoff from agricultural lots and live-stock
feedlots are one of the examples of pollutants of the surface
water. Such discharges directly affect the level of dissolved
oxygen in water bodies, which is crucial for the survival of
aerobic organisms and aquatic fauna such as fish. In addition,
excessive pollution is the reason why there is a massive fish
kills in the world. discharges of organics or of nutrients favor

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

the accelerated eutrophication or productivity process with

algal blooms. Lowering of Dissolved Oxygen level and death of
aquatic system takes place because of this excessive
pollution. Determining the Dissolved Oxygen Level is very
important since it will determine if the water whether it is
predominantly aerobic or anaerobic, predict the survival of
aquatic organisms, and predict whether aerobic biological
processes can take place for transforming the biodegradable
organic contaminants discharged in water. If the organic
discharge is present then the Dissolved Oxygen Level
decreases as the aerobic microorganisms consume the
oxygen during metabolic degradation of the organic matter.
Existing of the dissolved oxygen in the water sample is
censorious as the water system undergoes self-cleansing and
with the combination of Carbon dioxide and determining the
corrosive character of water on materials.

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

Materials and Methodology

Water Beaker Flask Iron Stand

MnSO4 KI Bottle Graduated Cylinder
H2SO4 Burette Funnel Na2S2O3

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

The researchers used tap water since it is the most

accessible water at the moment. The researchers ensure
that there will be no bubble formed in the experiment to
minimize unnecessary oxygen that will ruin the experiment and
make this experiment inaccurate. Manganese Sulfate
(MnSO4) which was added to the water, Potassium Iodide (KI)
which was also added to the water and both of them was
added 1mL to the water, and 3 mL of Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4) was
also added after letting all the precipitates go to the
bottom. Sulfuric acid must be added again if the researchers
will see precipitates in the experiment. The resulting color of
the process is amber. After that, a 300 mL of the mixed
sample was used for the titration. Sodium Thiosulfate
(Na2S2O3) was used as a titrant which should make
the sample light yellow in color. After that, starch was used in
the experiment and added to the sample which makes the
sample solution turn into dark blue as the titration process
should be continued. Then finally it would result into a clear
colorless sample solution.

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

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Results and Discussion

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

The objective of this experiment is to determine the

dissolved oxygen level of 2 water sample and to learn the
chemical reactions involved in fixing and analyzing a water
sample for dissolve oxygen using the Winkler method.
The researchers have a mass of 300 ml sample for both
water samples, the initial reading of the burette is both zero
then the final burette reading for the first sample is 12 ml
while 8 ml for the second sample. After computing for the
needed computations, it come up with an average dissolved
oxygen of 6.65 ppm with a standard deviation of 1.91 and a
relative standard deviation of 28.72%.
In this experiment, in fixing the sample, only an approximate
volume of MnSO4 is required for fixing the dissolved oxygen in
the sample. This is because MnSO4 is in excess, while the
dissolved oxygen is the limiting reactant, and so the exact
volume of MnSO4 is not critical. After adding the source of
manganese ions a precipitate must be form. However, if there
is no precipitate is form then it can be predicted that the
amount of dissolved oxygen concentration is extremely low.
Temperature is also important in this experiment because the
temperature of the water affects the concentration of
dissolved oxygen.
After forming the precipitate in the solution, the
researchers proceed in preparing the titration process. In
titrating the sample, the researchers add S2O32 until the
color of the water sample fades to a light yellow-brown color.
The amount of titrant is essential in determining the amount of
dissolved oxygen in the water sample. If the sample didn’t

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

change into light yellow-brown color it means that the sample

needs more titrant. If the water sample turns into light yellow-
brown it means that it has high concentration of dissolved
oxygen level.

Conclusion
The researchers found out after the experiment that the
average dissolved oxygen level of two water sample is 6.65
ppm. A study said that most of the fish and other marine
animals lives usually ranging at 5 ppm and higher. Thus, it can be
concluded that the experimenters test is good for the fish to
live in that kind of sample.
Even the average dissolve oxygen level is suitable for the
fish to live, the ppm would still drop to zero because fish would
consume the dissolved oxygen molecules so it is necessary to
add a pump in a fish tank for that kind of water sample which is
tap water. There are a lot of chemical of chemical reactions
involved in fixing and analyzing a water sample for dissolved
oxygen.

Recommendation
The researchers recommend that to ensure that there are
no bubbles existing in your water samples which contain
oxygen can make our results inaccurate. This problem can be
overcome by letting the water sample to be flow for a few
second to make sure the container is fully filled by the sample.
if the water sample is collected on a cold day, it is very
important to do the dissolved oxygen test in an instant after

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NASC2011: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2020 - 2021

collecting the water sample as the oxygen inside the water

will lowered when the day become warmth. Since, dissolved
oxygen is dependent to the temperature. On the titration
process, the researchers must be aware on what is
happening they need to observe carefully to avoid excess
addition of sodium thiosulphate into the solution.

References

Bruckner, M., n.d. Dissolved Oxygen By The Winkler Method.

[online] Environmental Sampling. Available at:
<https://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/research_methods/en
viron_sampling/oxygen.html>.

Fondriest Environmental, Inc. “Dissolved Oxygen.” Fundamentals

of Environmental Measurements. 19 Nov. 2013. Web. <
https://www.fondriest.com/environmental-
measurements/parameters/water-quality/dissolved-oxygen/
>.
Oram, B., n.d. Dissolved Oxygen In Water. [online] Water
Research Center. Available at: <https://water-
research.net/index.php/dissovled-oxygen-in-water>.

Mamat, A. (n.d.). Lab Report Chemistry Experiment 4 (Basic

Water Properties 1).Retrieved November 20, 2017, from Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/260181189

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