Water Worlds: Teach me How to Riffle

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Produced by: 
KBOO
Program:: 
Air date: 
Fri, 01/02/2015 - 11:00am to 12:00pm
Water World Episode 3 Teach me how to RIFFLE
Water World: Episode 3, Janurary 2, 2015

Kristin Yount interviews Don Blair. Don Blair was on the team that produced the RIFFLE or Remote Field Logger Electronics. The RIFFLE can test salinity, turbidity and conductivity of water bodies. The at-home tester, civic scientist or inquisitive mind can operate a RIFFLE by immearsing the thing in a local body of water in a two liter bottle.

For more go to
http://publiclab.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8HmB9FN6lk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L-WFSRkyXk

Given the state of affairs with changing water-sheds it is important for every person to understand where our water comes from and what are the signs that our water quality has changed. 

Salinity levels are important, as saline levels rise in fresh water rivers, streams and aquifers it can impact organisms living in or around the water. Houseboaters in the Columbia could read salinity levels and chart the changes over time.

Combined with results from other RIFFLE handlers, a citizen led data set can be collected. 

Turbitiy is the motion of water. Seasonal increases in turbity can bring sediment to the surface. An increase in turbidity can mean that a new source of water(or waste) is being introduced to a waterway. Measuring turbitiy and coorelating those readings with rainfall levels could lead to discoveries about how melt and run off affects our watersheds. Also a stratigically placed RIFFLEcould reveal when a change in the incoming flow (turbidity) changes when a dormant drain comes online.

Sudden changes in the temprature of water can change the conductivity of a water sample.

Conductivity is the ability for water to carry a charge. If your water is negatively charged that could signify the presence of chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and phosphate anions conversely a positive charge could mean sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and aluminum cations. A rise in conductivity could signify a new source of inorganic compounds in a sample.

While the RIFFLE is not designed to tell which minerals or compoundsexist in a sample, it is designed to monitor salinity, temperature, conductivity and turbidity.


To learn more about public lab go to www.publiclab.org

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