1. Lysander Borrero
Eduardo Rivera
MBRS-RISE
UPR at Cayey
Dr. Javier Arce

2.  Background Information
 Objective
 Hypothesis
 Methodology
 Results
 Discussion
 Future Work
 References

3.  Nitrate:
 Composition of one nitrogen atom and three oxygen
atoms
 Soluble in water at standard temperature and pressure
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu
/~courses/genchem/Tutorials/Io http://sci.waikato.ac.nz/farm/images/a
ns/images/nitrate3.jpg tomic%20structure%20of%20nitrate.p
ng

4.  Nitrates are important for plants and algae to grow
 Fertilizers
 High levels of nitrate can cause:
 Methemoglobinemia-Blue baby (Austin, 1999)
 Cancer

5.  The nitrate levels will rise after a precipitation event in
studied water bodies.

6.  Measure the levels of nitrates in water bodies after an
extreme precipitation event.

7. Lake Sample River Sample

8.  Collect samples
 TNT 835 (Dimethylphenol
Method)
 Sample water (1 mL)
 Solution A (200 µL)
 Spectrophotometer
 Insert the vial
 Reads the barcode
 Measures nitrate levels

9. Results

10. Date Time Nitrate Concentration (mg/L)
28/april/2012 9:00 am 0.079
28/april/2012 4:45 pm 0.111
29/april/2012 7:15 am 0.122
29/april/2012 4:30 pm 0.113
30/april/2012 9:30 am 0.147
30/april/2012 6:38 pm 0.137
1/may/2012 6:47 am 0.137
1/may/2012 7:03 pm 0.469
2/may/2012 9:00 am 0.061
2/may/2012 6:48 pm 0.258

11. Date Time Nitrate Concentration (mg/L)
28/april/2012 11:35 am 0.303
28/april/2012 5:32 pm 0.573
29/april/2012 11:45 am 0.211
29/april/2012 6:01 pm 0.540
30/april/2012 6:28 am 0.628
30/april/2012 6:27 pm 0.791
1/may/2012 6:37 am 0.706
1/may/2012 7:12 pm 0.470
2/may/2012 8:24 am 0.600
2/may/2012 8:21 pm 0.730

12. Levels of nitrate in the
river (blue bar)
vs.
levels of nitrate in the
lake (pink bar)

13. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pr/nwis/uv/?dd_cd=01_00065&format=img_default&site_no=
50055225&set_arithscale_y=on&begin_date=20120425&end_date=20120502

14. Lake Sample
 Before precipitation:
from 4/28/2012am to
4/30/2012 am
vs.
 After precipitation: from
4/30/2012pm to
5/2/2012pm

15. River Sample
 Before precipitation:
from 4/28/2012 am to
4/30/2012 am
vs.
 After precipitation: from
4/30/2012 pm to
5/2/2012 pm

16. Lake Water River Water
 Concentration of nitrates  Concentration of nitrates
0.079-0.469 0.211-0.791
 Nitrate level increased  Nitrates levels increased
after precipitation event after precipitation event
 Nitrate level increased in  Nitrate level increased in
5/1/2012 pm 4/30/2012 pm

17.  Precipitation can be a factor in the levels of nitrates.
 Possible factors that affected our results:
 Periods between samples
 Storage of the samples
 Agricultural and rural areas
 Artificial lake

18.  Compare extreme dry periods vs. extreme
precipitation event.
 Collect more samples for a longer period of time.
 Collect from the same water body, but on different
sites.

19.  Dr. Javier Arce
 Ruby Otero
 RISE Program
 Dr. EneidaDíaz
 Dr. Elena González
 Dr. Roberto Ross

20.  Hach Company. 2007. Nitrate. Revised 2010. Doc
316.53.01070. (p) 1-6
 Kreitler C, Jones D. 1975. Natural Soil Nitrate: The Cause of
Nitrate Contamination of Ground Water in Runnels
County, Texas. 13 (1)
 Self JR, Waskom RM. July 1995. Nitrates in Drinking Water.
Revised October 2008. Fact Sheet No. 0.517

21.  Austin A. 1999. Infantile Methehemoglobinemia:
Reexamining the Role of Drinking Water Nitrates.
Environmental Health Perspectives [Internet]; [Published
1999 June 1]. Volume(107):[approximately 4 p.]. Available
on
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1566680/?
page=1

22.  United States Geological Survey
 http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pr/nwis/uv/?dd_cd=01_00065
&format=img_default&site_no=50055225&set_arithscale
_y=on&begin_date=20120425&end_date=20120502
 http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pr/nwis/uv/?dd_cd=03_0004
5&format=img_default&site_no=50055225&set_arithscal
e_y=on&begin_date=20120425&end_date=20120502