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Exploring Urban Watersheds 2012

Exploring Urban Watersheds

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Exploring

Urban

Watersheds

2012

Exploring the Urban Watershed:

A two-week environmental summer program for rising 9th grade girls focused on scientific methodology and inquiry applied to source water assessment and protection in Philadelphia. After field trips to drinking water, wastewater and the central labs of the Philadelphia Water Department, they engaged in hands‐on fieldwork - sampling and analyzing the ecology of a local stream. Our goal was to expose participants to new and positive experiences in the sciences. The following is a digital scrapbook laying out their data.

Urban Watersheds

* What is a Watershed?

A watershed is the area of land around where water collects into a specific body of water

* * What makes an urban watershed different?- They are different because

there is more impervious surface and water runs off into storm drains & sewers

Watershed

Watershed

Water Water

Naomi

http://www.sustainable19125.org/wordpress/?p=294

Everybody needs clean water!

Our drinking water goes through a long process. 50% of the drinking water comes from the Schuylkill and 50% from the Delaware River. Our water goes through a filtration process to get small particles out and is also disinfected.

Sewage & Drinking Water

My tour of the sewage plant was eye-opening because I saw what wasn’t really flushable, like feminine products and that soap isn't removed from the sewage after all the treatments!

Everybody produces sewage. Sewage

comes from homes, stormwater run-off

and factories among other places .

Sewage is treated through a multistep

process . They physically and

biologically treat the water.

http://www.descco.com/display/process-piping/

Aleeyah

Invasive species are known as “super successful reproducers”. They cause ecological and health damage and can negatively impact native species. Some examples of invasive species are Zebra Mussel, Rusty Crayfish and Japanese Knotweed.

Stormwater poses as one of the biggest threats to our waterways. When it rains in the city, rainwater washes all of the trash, animal feces, car oils, etc. that is left on the street into our sewers. This runoff has a chance of ending up in our rivers and streams. Unlike a natural watershed, more than half (55%) of all stormwater ends up in our sewers.

Threats to Watersheds: Stormwater & Invasive Species

Roh

Watershed Study: Materials & Methods

Test Tubes

Dip Net

Microscope

Microscope Slides

Thermometer

LaMotte

(pH) Kit

Plankton Net

Secchi

Disk/notched

rope

PipetteJazmyn

Watershed Study:Data and Results

Melissa

Overall, Cobbs Creek had the clearest water when compared visually to the Schuylkill River and Naylor’s Run. This may be because Cobbs Creek was a smaller stream order and had mostly gravel sediment where as the Schuylkill River had more silt at the sample locations that can become stirred up and affect turbidity. Naylor’s Run also had a gravel bottom but had the slowest moving water and its source was from a stormwater outfall that could have affected the clarity.

Larger animal life, such as cormorants, were recorded at the Schuylkill River than seen at both Cobbs Creek and Naylor’s Run. This could be because cormorant birds eat fish and the Schuylkill River has a larger supply of fish.

Naylor’s Run did not have a variety of macroinvertebrates while Cobbs Creek did have a variety of macroinvertebrates. A lack of biodiversity can indicate that there is pollution problem. Naylor’s Run is a stormwater outfall so stormwater runoff may negatively affect water quality.

Watershed Study:Data and Results

Location &

Observation

Waterway: Schuylkill River Cobbs Creek Naylor's Run

Sample Location:

East Above Dam

East Below Dam/Esplanade

West Below Dam/Fishway

   

  

Shade Sun     

GPS:39° 58' 0" N 75° 10'

55" W39° 57' 0" N

75° 10' 59" W

39° 58' 9" N 75° 11' 19" W

39° 55' 60" N 75° 14'

20 "W 39° 56' 46" N 75° 14' 41" W

Start Time:9:55 AM 10:30 AM

10:48 AM 11:50 AM 1:35 PM 12:15 PM

Weather:Sunny, very

hot outShady and cooler air

Sunny, hot

Extremely hot and sunny

Cloudy, cool airSunny, clear

sky

Land Use: Park Park Park Highway ParkStorm water drain, park

Sample Location Specifics

Watershed Study:Data and Results

 Waterway: Schuylkill River

Cobbs Creek

Naylor's Run

 Sample

Location:

East Above Dam

East Below Dam/Esplanade

West Below Dam/Fishwa

y        Shade Sun      

Reach:

Reach (ft): N/A N/A N/A N/A 168 feet 41.5 feet

FlowMedium/

slowMedium

/fastMedium

/fastMedium

/fastSlow Very Slows

Turbidity Clear Clear Clear Clear ClearA little

cloudy, but mostly clear

Stream Order

estimate:7 7 7 7 3 1

Stream Reach (length)

Watershed Study:Data and Results

  Waterway: Schuylkill River Cobbs Creek Naylor's Run

Transect 1 (T1)

*Except Schuylkill

Habitat Channel Channel Channel Channel Upstream end of

RiffleRiffle

pH 7 8 8 8T1 E Bank: 8 T1 Channel: 7

T1 Bank: 8 T1 Channel:

7.5

Prevalent Gravel

Category

Silt & Bedrock

Silt & Bedrock

Silt & Bedrock

Silt & Bedrock

Gravel Gravel

Macros N/A N/A N/A N/A

Mayfly, Caddisfly Larva, Crayfish, a

bunch of Threadworms

Mayfly Nymph, Tubifex Worm

Animal LifeFish,

Cormorant

Geese, Turtle,

Cormorant

Geese, Turtle,

Cormorant

Fish, Cormorant

Crayfish, Cicadas, Fish,

Flies, Butterflies

Cicadas, Fish, Flies

Transect 1 - line that cuts across the Reach

Watershed Study:Data and Results

 Waterway: Schuylkill River Cobbs Creek Naylor's Run

Transect 2

Habitat N/A Riffle Riffle, Pool

pH N/AT2 E Bank: 7.2 T2

Channel: 6.8T2 Bank: 8

T2 Channel: 8

Prevalent Gravel

CategoryN/A Gravel Gravel

Macros N/A

Cloeon Mendax, Cranefly Larva,

Tubifex Worm, Isopod or Aquatic Sowbug,

Mayfly Nymph

None

Animal Life N/ACrayfish, Cicadas,

Fish, Flies, ButterfliesCicadas, Fish, Flies

Transect 2 - line that cuts across the Reach

Focusing on Careers

When we went to the Bureau of Laboratory Services we explored lots of careers and met scientists.

Chemist: Are people that study chemistry substances like H2O & 02 (water & oxygen) and do experiments understand what something is made of

Microbiologist: Are people that analyze the structure and processes of microorganisms especially cellular tissue.

Aquatic Biologist: Work with living organisms in bodies of water and study the environmental impact of industry and human expansions.

Kadeeja

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank The Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center for allowing us to use their beautiful laboratory.

We would like to thank the Bureau of Laboratory Services (PWD), especially Laura Eyring, Anne Harvey, Marla Schechs and Yaeisha Slack.

We would like to thank Philadelphia Futures, Charmayne Thompson, for sharing her resources about college preparations.

We appreciate Gerald Bright, Environmental Program Scientist PWD, for taking the time to speak to us about stormwater and giving a site tour of an infrastructure project.

We thank Anne Faulds, NOAA Sea Grant, for giving her time to educate us on invasive species in the area.

The project was funded in part by a grant from the Society of Women Environmental Professionals, thank you for your generosity.