The Long Island Sound is a tidal estuary between Long Island and Connecticut in the United States (Long, n.d). It houses 9 million people and provides around 200,000 jobs with an estimated value of $17-37 billion dollars a year (Gabrielle, 2022; Neiwpcc, n.d.). The purpose of this experiment is to see if the distance from Route 25A, a major road on Long Island, to the testing site has an effect on the water quality. It is hypothesized that the distance from Route 25A will have an effect on the nitrates, nitrites, ammonia or pH of the water. The testing took place at Cedarmere, North Hempstead Beach, Bay Walk, and Sunset. At each location, a bottle was filled with water from the tides and were brought home, where the pH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels were tested for with an API saltwater testing kit and logged into a notebook. It was found that distance from Route 25A has no effect on pH or ammonia, but it has an effect on the nitrate levels. This means car engine emissions may have an impact on the local ecosystem, and may lead to eutrophication occurring, which can kill off marine organisms. Future research may want to increase the testing locations and use automatic sensors to increase accuracy and ease of testing.

References

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