Stormwater Runoff Quality: Testing Pollutants before Filtration
Location
CoLab, COM 206
Start Date
30-4-2026 10:45 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
The JCCC Stormwater Basin was built to help filter water and slow down the flow of the water. Before the basin the water from the JCCC parking lots quickly flowed into the Indian creek, passing through many pollutants on its way. After the basin was built, the water goes through engineered soils and native plant materials to promote filtration, which means it is picking up less pollutants. We want to figure out what is in the runoff water, to prove the basin is successful. We have been testing runoff water from the parking lot. The runoff water is collected at storm drains at the bottom of the parking lot. We used many different water tests to figure out the elements picked up in the runoff water. The problem is the runoff water has some unsafe elements in it, which we found through tests we have run. Our question that we are answering is: “What is in our runoff water from the parking lot?” During an experiment with the Varify Complete Water Test Kit, we found that the runoff water has too much sulfate in it. In another test, the SJ Wave 16-1 Water Test Kit, we found that the 5 mg/L of Fluoride made the water unsafe to drink. This research is important because we find more about the runoff water and if it is safe or not. In these experiments we found that the water has a lot of pollutants so the water basin filtration is helping.
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Stormwater Runoff Quality: Testing Pollutants before Filtration
CoLab, COM 206
The JCCC Stormwater Basin was built to help filter water and slow down the flow of the water. Before the basin the water from the JCCC parking lots quickly flowed into the Indian creek, passing through many pollutants on its way. After the basin was built, the water goes through engineered soils and native plant materials to promote filtration, which means it is picking up less pollutants. We want to figure out what is in the runoff water, to prove the basin is successful. We have been testing runoff water from the parking lot. The runoff water is collected at storm drains at the bottom of the parking lot. We used many different water tests to figure out the elements picked up in the runoff water. The problem is the runoff water has some unsafe elements in it, which we found through tests we have run. Our question that we are answering is: “What is in our runoff water from the parking lot?” During an experiment with the Varify Complete Water Test Kit, we found that the runoff water has too much sulfate in it. In another test, the SJ Wave 16-1 Water Test Kit, we found that the 5 mg/L of Fluoride made the water unsafe to drink. This research is important because we find more about the runoff water and if it is safe or not. In these experiments we found that the water has a lot of pollutants so the water basin filtration is helping.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Amanda Glass.