Presence of Ions in Water Samples Taken from the

Animas River Watershed Following the Gold King Mine

Spill
Abstract
We chose to investigate this topic because the Animas River is a big part of Durangos
culture and provides lots of economic and agricultural benefits. This topic is very relevant
and important to the lives of people in Durango because it is a health concern for people
who rely on the river for recreational, economic, and agricultural benefits. The question
that was being asked was, What ions are present in the Animas River Watershed? Water
samples were collected from three different locations: Cement Creek, Mineral Creek, and
the Animas River to compare the amount of ions present in each location. A chemical
analysis was performed by using reference solutions to determine whether or not certain
ions are present in the water samples collected. From the results of this experiment it was
very noticeable that from a majority of the tests run in the experiment the ions that we
tested for were not present. My results are valuable because the ions that we tested for
were absent in a majority of the tests run during the experiment and this matters because
it means that the river is cleaner than we maybe think. From our results it was easy to tell
that the ions being tested for Calcium Ca2, Chloride Cl, Iron Fe2, lead Pb+2 and sulfate
SO4 were not present in a majority of our water samples taken which is a great sign in
regard to the safety of the water.

Methods
Water samples were collected in cylinders from six different locations on the three
tributaries of the Animas River: Cement Creek, Mineral Creek, and the Animas River, as
shown in Figures 1 and 2. Cement Creek, Mineral Creek, and the Animas River were all
chosen as sampling points because they are all part of the Animas River watershed.
Cement Creek was an important sampling spot because it is right near the Gold King
Mine and then drains into the Animas River. Mineral Creek is also one of the three
tributaries where water samples were collected and was unaffected by the Gold King
mine spill.
Safety goggles and latex gloves were worn, to avoid exposure as some of the chemicals
used in this experiment are toxic. Lead, silver, and barium compounds were disposed of
in designated waste containers due to their high toxicity. Well plates were cleaned with
distilled water, air dried, and then visually inspected to ensure they were free from
contamination. Separate pipettes were used for each solution.
A chemical analysis was performed by using a reference solution, a negative control, and
test solution to determine whether or not certain ions were present in the water samples.
Distilled water was used as the negative control for each test performed. The purpose of
the negative control is to be used as a sample of solution lacking the ion. The positive
control was the reference solution. The purpose of the positive control is to have a
solution that contains the ion that you can refer to. CaCl2 was used for both the calcium
and chloride ion tests. Fe(NO)3 was used for the iron ion test. FeSO4 was used for the the
sulfate ion test. CuSO4 and Pb(NO)3 were used as the positive control for the copper and

lead tests. The purpose of the test solution is to cause a chemical reaction in which the ion
has produced. For the calcium ion test sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) was used as the test
solution. Silver nitrate (AgNO3) was used for the test solution in the chloride ion test.
Potassium thiocyanate (KSCN) was the test solution for the iron ion test. Barium chloride
(BaC12) was used as the test solution for the Sulfate ion test. Finally, potassium iodide,
(KI) was the test solution used for lead and copper ion tests.

Figure 1: Sampling Sites Near Silverton, Colorado

Figure 2. Upper Cement Creek Sampling Locations

Results
The overwhelming majority of the water samples tested negative for presence of ions, as
shown in Table 1. For the presence of Ca 2 out of 65 samples tested semi-positive, and 4
out of 65 tested positive. The presence of Fe, Cu, Pb and Cl were minimal. No samples
were positive for Cl, and only 2 out of 65 samples were positive for Fe, and Cu, and only
1 sample tested positive for Pb. There were no trends with regard to sample location
except for Su, which showed higher rates of positivity with over 10% of the samples
testing positive, most of which occurred in the CC@14 location.Tests for Al and Mg were
only conducted on one sample, which was negative. Aside from the trend of positive
presence of Su at CC@14, there were not other trends regarding positive presence of one
specific ion in any other of the tested locations. The sampling site CCAC, however, was
the site with the most positive results (Figure 3). It was positive for a variety of ions.
Overall, the Cement Creek locations contained the most positive results.

Table 1.Results of Water Samples from Animas River

Watershed
Name

Kaylie, Brynn, &

Skylar
Claire & Vivien
Isabel & Shea
Mitchell & Annie
Steve Smith

Sample

Sample

Number

Location

7
7
7
7
8

Ca

Cl

Fe (III)

Cu

Pb

A68

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

A68
A68
A68
A68

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Al

Mg Test

Neg.

Neg.

Carrie K &
Kerrissa M
Emily & Tristan
Sean & Grant
Julianne & Izzy
Ethan &
Michaelan
Cameron F. &
Derek j.
Keiran & Austin
Keenan &
Sophie
Claire & Vivien
Camryn & Emily
Steve Smith
Henry & Reed
Piper & Hailey
Travis & Max
Eli & Keegan
Keiran & Austin
Ben & Zach
Riley & Evan
Serena & Thane
Carrie K &
Kerrisa M
Garrett &
Brenden
Keenan &
Sophie
Max & TJ
Coleman & Berr
Julianne & Izzy
Perrin & George
Ethan &
Michaelan
Geoffrey & Dylan
Emily & Tristan
Ben & Zach
Coleman & Berr
Isabel & Shea
Steve Smith
Kody David
Sean & Grant

A68

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

8
8
8
8

A68
A68
A68
A68

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

A72

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

1
1

A72
A72

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.

1
1
2
2
2
10
10
10
10
10
11
11

A72
A72
A72
A72
A72
CC@14
CC@14
CC@14
CC@14
CC@14
CC@14
CC@14

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Pos.
Neg.
Neg.
Pos.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

11

CC@14

Neg.

Neg.

Pos.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

11

CC@14

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

11
11
11
11
14

CC@14
CC@14
CC@14
CC@14
CC@14

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Pos.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

13

CC@14
CCAC

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Pos.

Neg.
Neg.

13
13
13
14
14
14

CCAC
CCAC
CCAC
CCAC
CCAC
CCAC

Neg.
Semi
Pos.
Neg.
Pos.
Pos.
Neg.
Pos.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Pos.
Neg.
Pos.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Pos.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Pos.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

N/A
N/A

N/A

Neg.

Neg.

Geoffrey, Dylan
&
Ben & Zach
Camryn & Emily
Perrin & George
Isabel & Shea
Mitchell & Anne
Serena & Thane
Eli & Keegan
Max & TJ
Sean & Grant
Jonathan & Kyle
Riley & Evan
Travis & Max
Garrett &
Brenden
Claire & Vivien
Camryn & Emily
Max & TJ
Serena & Thane
Keenan & Soph
Perrin & George
Piper & Hailey
Jonathan & Kyle
Jake & Eno
Mikayla & Luke

CCAC

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

Neg.

4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
23
23

MC
MC
MC
MC
MC
MC
MC
MC
MC
MC
MC
SFCC
SFCC

Pos.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Pos.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.

23
23
23
24
24
24
24
24
4
19

SFCC
SFCC
SFCC
SFCC
SFCC
SFCC
SFCC
SFCC
MC
CCAC

N/A

N/A

Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Pos.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
N/A
N/A
Semi- Neg.
Neg.
Pos.
Neg. Neg.
Pos.
Gabe & Alec
1
A72
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. Neg.
Sample Points Abbreviations: A68 & A72 sampling points collected from Animas River
locations; MC sampling point from Mineral Creek; SFCC sampling point from South Fork of
Cement Creek; CC sampling from Cement Creek
Results Abbreviations: Pos. = Positive; Neg. = Negative
Chemical/Ion Abbreviations: Ca = Calcium, Cl = Chloride, S = Sulfate, Fe = Iron, Cu = Copper,
Pb = lead, Al = aluminum, Mg = magnesium

Figure 3
Sample Points Abbreviations: A68 & A72 sampling points collected from Animas River
locations; MC sampling point from Mineral Creek; SFCC sampling point from South Fork of
Cement Creek; CC sampling from Cement Creek
Chemical/Ion Abbreviations: Ca = Calcium, Cl = Chloride, S = Sulfate, Fe = Iron, Cu = Copper,
Pb = lead, Al = aluminum, Mg = magnesium

Discussion
The Colorado Department of Public Health and EPA previously took samples from the
Animas River Watershed after the Gold King Mine. Their results detected the presence of
lead, sulfate, calcium, and copper. Our results differed from The Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) because our results were negative and showed
an absence of the ions being tested for. After the spill the results indicated that the river
was very toxic, but our results indicated that over time the ions being tested for carried
downstream and drained into other watersheds. However, there were limitations to the
accuracy of the method we used, indicated by the outliers. The benefits of this method
included sampling from multiple sites, the test samples were tested by multiple students
to increase accuracy, and the procedure was basic which reduced student error. To further
test these results we could take water samples from more sites in the Animas River
Watershed and more accurate tests from people could be run. The public had a deep
desire to know about the water quality and safety because people rely on the river for
many uses and are concerned about their health and the environment. Further testing
would have to be required to assure the safety of the Animas River Watershed.