SAVE THE PLANET
How
This investigator took a trip down to Pouhala Marsh and retrieved water samples from Kapakahi Stream as well as testing the stream itself. Data collected was through water testing and all testing materials was provided by Mrs. Webb.
Data Collection
The investigator went down to Pouhala Marsh and located Kapakahi Stream. There is a bridge that crosses the stream and the investigator went down to the bank and tested the water directly. Probing equipment provided by Mrs. Webb was used to find dissolved oxygen levels and stream flow. A turbidity tube was used to find the murkiness of the water. The rest of the testing was done through lab kits to find the levels of nitrate and pH. There were nets for catching marine organisms to record, but no organisms were caught.
Data Analysis
This data shows that Kapakahi stream is in good condition but not at optimal levels. The pH is at the optimal level because a pH of 7 means it is safely balanced between acidic and basic and the nitrate levels are low which is good and shows how there is little waste runoff in this stream. However, the water is not clear because turbidity is at 23.4 cm when the optimal clearity should be around 50.0 cm. The stream flow is very low and it is almost stagnant water. This could be due to the fact that Pouhala Marsh is a seasonal wetland and as it is an El Nino year, the rains have been scarce. Also, the tide probably wasn't coming in at the time of the water testing. The dissolved oxygen is not high but the stream has enough oxygen to provide for the living creatures in it. There were also some observations of fish jumping in the water which shows that there is life in the stream but since no organisms were closely examined, the investigator could not tell if the fish were native or non-native.
What did you observe at the location? What are your findings from the data you gathered?
I observed that Pouhala Marsh’s Kapakahi stream is a very wide stream with deep water. The stream flow was very slow. The dissolved oxygen was around 80% and therefore not very high. The turbidity tube showed that the stream was murky because of the low stream flow. The nitrate and pH however were at healthy levels.