A Student-Based Investigation to Assess the Impacts of Chemical Deicers on the Water Quality of Spring Run Stream in Altoona, Pennsylvania

Abstract

Students in an undergraduate independent study course at Penn State Altoona investigated the use and potential effects of chemical deicers on the water quality of the stream that runs through the campus. Spring Run supports a wild trout population and is a tributary of the Little Juniata River and a headwater stream for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Students collected pre- and post- chemical deicer application water samples from Spring Run stream over four sampling dates. Water samples were analyzed for potassium (K+), sodium (Na+), dissolved oxygen, pH, chloride (Cl−) and ammonia as nitrogen (NH3−). None of the parameters sampled exceeded the standard guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. However, this study found cause for future research, particularly as it relates to the concentration of chloride in stream water. Chloride exhibited significant increases in concentration between pre- and post-deicer application. With the exception of one sampling date, chloride concentrations (19.2–63.7 mg/L) fell within the range of concentrations found in streams in the northeast United States that have been contaminated by rock salt inputs. The learning outcomes and skill development objectives of this field-intensive experience were driven by the assumption that this type of field-based educational experience enhances student learning by contextualizing complex geographical processes better than a solely classroom-based experience. Through the research process students were exposed to working with field techniques, GPS, GIS, datasets and statistics.