Waterbot Data Update

We are just getting preliminary data from the Waterbots we installed in the park last week, but we are already seeing some interesting trends in the data. The above chart is a graph of Conductivity (red line) and Temperature (blue line) over the last week. Conductivity is represented as microsiemens per centimeter (the amount and rate of electricity that can pass through the water), and temperature is represented as 10 times the actual degrees Celsius (to make it graph on the same range as conductivity).

The conductivity fluctuates daily, with temperature, and you can see that on the evenings of the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, conductivity reached the same low level. Interestingly on the 24th the conductivity dipped slightly less than the previous days. This could be the result of rain on the 24th (a little over a tenth of an inch) that may have washed various inorganic salts into the creek. Keep tuned in to the blog where we will periodically post the data we are collecting in and around the Park.

Permanently Monitoring our Streams

By Jake Francis, Director of Education, Schrader Center — As part of the expansion of our Mission Ground Truth:21 program, which gives regional 8^th graders a chance to explore the process of inquiry and careers in science while immersing them in nature, we have installed three permanent stream probes in the streams in and around Oglebay Park.  We have received six probes, called Waterbots, through our partnership with the Community Robotics, Education, and Technology Education Lab (CREATE) at Carnegie Mellon University, that strives to empower communities through robotic technology.

Permanent stream probes are not a revolutionary new idea; in fact many old dams and weirs served the purpose of measuring stream discharge.  What is revolutionary about the CREATE Lab’s Waterbots is their low cost, which increases citizen scientist’s (like our Mission Ground Truthers) access to high quality continuous water quality data sets.

Waterbots measure two stream parameters, conductivity and temperature.  Conductivity is a measurement of how quickly electricity passes through water.  Conductivity is a good indicator of pollution because any chemical dissolved in the stream (e.g. nitrate fertilizers, ammonia based soaps, oils, etc) will change the conductivity, thus a large

unexpected fluctuation in the conductivity of our streams will indicate that we need to investigate that area a little more closely.  Temperature fluctuations affect conductivity measurements, and when both parameters are combined we are able to estimate the Total Dissolved Solutes (TDS) in the stream.  The data we collect using our Waterbots will be open to educators and the general public who are concerned about threats to our local water quality.