CM011L: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)

1ST Quarter SY 2018-2019

Dissolved Oxygen Levels in Natural Waters (Experiment 6)

Adornado, Adonis1, Ortega, Mary Alyssa, T.2

Professor, School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences, Mapúa University; 2Student, CM011L/Section, Mapúa University
1

ABSTRACT

Dissolved oxygen is one of the important parameters for characterizing natural waters and assessing its quality
because of the organisms living within a body of water. The purpose of this experiment is to investigate, and measure
dissolved oxygen concentrations in natural waters through various procedures while developing a proper technique
for obtaining a natural water sample. And to learn the chemical reactions involved in fixing and analysing a water
sample for dissolved oxygen. In this experiment, the content of Dissolved oxygen was determined by Winkler
method—a type of Redox Titration. The experiment was done by having three reagents poured to a water sample with
specific amounts. The sample is titrated with Na2S2O3 and uses starch as an indicator. Various colours were observed
as the following solutions/indicator was being poured and the dissolved oxygen was measured.

INTRODUCTION

Dissolved Oxygen is defined as the measure of the quality of MATERIALS AND METHODS
water determining the free oxygen that is dissolved in the
water. Oxygen is a necessary element to all forms of life. 1. Pour the Erlenmeyer Flask until it overflows.
Dissolved oxygen plays a vital role to the underwater life. It
is an essential because it is what aquatic animals need to
breathe and it affects their growth and development.
Dissolved Oxygen is also important to humans because of
how it determines the quality of the water. Water is an
essential to humans therefore it needs to be clean and
potable for humans to survive. There are a lot of factors that
can affect the amount of Dissolved Oxygen present. These
factors can also affect how an organism can live in a place
or habitat. The amount of oxygen that can be held by the
water depends on the temperature of water, salinity, and
pressure. Dissolved Oxygen concentrations can be
measured in milligrams per liter (mg/L) or, parts per million
(ppm) 1 milligram per liter is equal to 1 part per million.

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 CM011L: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)
1ST Quarter SY 2018-2019

2. Put the rubber stopper so that air will be pressed 5. Put the rubber stopper and invert it thoroughly to let
outside the flask. the liquids added mix with the water. Then set it
aside for a few minutes. You will notice a yellow
dense material that sank at the bottom.

6. Using a different pipette, measure a 1 mL of H 2SO4

and carefully pour it to the solution. Then put the
rubber stopper again and invert it thoroughly to
3. Using a pipette, measure 1 mL of Manganese dissolve any precipitate. You will notice how it turn
Sulfate (MnSO4) and slowly pour it to the water. to a brown color.

7. Transfer 200 mL of the solution to a flask using a

graduated cylinder.
4. Using a different pipette, measure 1 mL of Basic KI-
NaN3 and slowly pour into the solution. As you pour
the base you will notice the changes in color of the
solution (from colorless to yellow).

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8. Prepare the titrant. Slowly dispense the Na2S2O3 to
the sample then swirl it vigorously as the titrant is
added to the sample.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The data shown below are gathered from the experiment in
which a measured volume of Na2S2O3 is used as a titrant to
be able to determine the amount Dissolved Oxygen present
in a sample.

Table 1. Sample Analysis

Sample 1
Sample volume (mL) 200
Buret reading, initial (mL) 0
Buret reading, final (mL) 4.1
Volume Na2S2O3 dispensed (mL) 4.1
Molar Concentration of Na2S2O3 0.02581
(mol/L), Part A
Moles of Na2S2O3 dispensed (mol) 1.06x10-4
9. When the color turns into a very light yellow. Add 1
Moles of I3- reduced by S2O32- (mol) 5.3x10-5
mL of starch solution (will show a blue/black color
Moles of O2 (mol) 0.00001325
as the starch is added) and continue to add the
titrant. Mass of O2 (mg) 0.424
Dissolved oxygen, ppm O2 (mg/L) 2.12

Calculations for Dissolved Oxygen Levels

4. Volume of Na2S2O3 dispensed (mL):

4.1 – 0 = 4.1 mL
6. Moles of Na2S2O3:
(0.02581) (0.0041) = 1.06x10−4 mol

7. Moles of I3 – reduced

(1.06 x 10 -4 mol) (1/2) = 5.3x10-5 mol

8. Moles of O2:
10. Stop the titration as the dark blue/black color fades
away. 1 mol O2 = 2 mol Mn(OH)2 = 2 mol I2 = 4 mol S2O3-
4 mol S2O3- = 1 mol O2
0.000053/4) = 1.325x10-5 or 0.00001325 mol
9. Mass of O2 (mg)
Mass of O2= (0.00001325 mol O2) (32g/mol)
= 4.24 x10-4 or 0.000424 g → mg
= 0.424 mg

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 CM011L: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)
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10. Dissolved oxygen, ppm O2
𝑚𝑔 𝑂2
= ppm O2
𝐿𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒
0.424 𝑚𝑔
=2.12 mg/L
0.2 𝐿
LABORATORY QUESTIONS
1. Part B. The water chemist waits until returning
to the laboratory to fix the water sample for the
dissolved oxygen analysis. Will the reported
dissolved oxygen concentration be reported as
too high, too low, or remain unchanged?
Explain.
It might be reported having high dissolved oxygen
concentration because of the factors that might
affect the solution if the chemist waits until returning
to the laboratory.
2. Part B.3 A solution of MnSO4 is added to fix the
dissolved oxygen in the collected sample.
A. What is the meaning of the expression, “fix
the dissolved oxygen,” and why is it so
important for the analysis of dissolved
oxygen in a water sample?
The expression “fix the dissolved oxygen”
means adding reagents that undergo
chemical reactions and form a compound
and precipate.The amount of precipitation
is directly proportional and is used as an
indicator to the oxygen present.
B. Only an approximate volume (~1 mL) of
MnSO4 is required for fixing the dissolved
oxygen in the sample. Explain why an exact
volume is not critical.
It is because 1 mL of MnSO4 will be
sufficient to identify.
3. Part B.4. No precipitate forms! Assuming the
reagents were properly prepared and dispensed
into the sample, what might be predicted about
its dissolved oxygen concentration? Explain.
Experiment 01│ Group No.│ Date of Experiment
Precipitates are insoluble ionic solid products that
are form from a reaction between ions of an
aqueous solution. If there is no precipitate formed,
this could mean that there is not enough oxygen
present in the sample or ions are not present to form
a reaction.
4. Part B.5. A water chemist measured and
recorded the air temperature at 27°C when he
should have measured the water temperature,
which was only 21°C. As a result of this error,
will the dissolved oxygen concentration be
reported as being higher or lower than it should
be? Explain.
It will result to a low amount of dissolved oxygen
because the higher temperature the lower dissolved
oxygen is held. And for this error, the dissolved
oxygen should be higher because the water
temperature is lower than the air temperature.
5. Part C.3. The color of the analyte did not fade to
form the light yellow-brown color but remained
intense even after the addition of a full buret of
the S2O32- titrant, even though a precipitate
formed in Part B.4. What can be stated about the
dissolved oxygen concentration of the sample?
Explain.
If the sample solution having a yellow-brown color
then turns to a lighter yellow color it means that
there is a disappearance of the iodine. Therefore, if
the color of the analyte did not fade to lighter color
this could mean that it has a high concentration of
I2 that wasn’t able to be neutralize by the titrant.
6. Assuming a dissolved oxygen concentration of
7.0 ppm (mg/L) in a 200-mL water sample.
a. How many moles of Mn(OH)3 will be
produced with the addition of the MnSO4
solution?
ppm O2 =
𝑚𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑂2
= 7 mg/L =
𝑚𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑂2
= 1.4 mg
𝐿 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 0.2 𝐿
1 𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑙 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑂2 4 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑀𝑛(𝑂𝐻)3
1.4 mg x x x
32 𝑔 𝑂2 1000 𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑂2 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑂2
= 1.75x10-4 mol Mn(OH)3
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b. How many moles of I3- will be produced was withdrawn. This resulted to a low dissolved
when the KI-NaN3 solution is added to the oxygen held by the body of water which kills most
above solution? of the fishes or aquatic organisms.

1.75x10-4 mol Mn(OH)3 x

1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐼3
= 8.75x10-5 mol I3
2 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑀𝑛(𝑂𝐻)3
c. How many moles of S2O32- will be needed
to react with the I3- that is generated?
1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐼3 2 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑆2 𝑂3
1.75x10-4 mol Mn(OH)3 x x while the bottom has less oxygen. When a heavy
2 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑀𝑛(𝑂𝐻)3 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐼3
= 1.75x10-4 mol S2O3
d. And also assuming the concentration of
S2O32- titrant to be 0.025 M, how many
millilitres of titrant will be predictably used
for the analysis.
1𝐿 1000 𝑚𝐿
1.75x10-4 mol S2O3 x x = 7 mL S2O3
0.025 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑆2 𝑂3 1𝐿
7. A non-scientist brings a water sample to your
laboratory and asks you to determine why there
was a fish kill in the nearby lake. Having
recently finished this experiment, what might
you tell that person about the legitimacy of a
test for dissolved oxygen? What reasoning
would you use to maintain the integrity of your
laboratory?
Many lakes have low oxygen bottom layers
because of the decomposition that causes the
reduction of oxygen. Decomposition or the decay of
organic materials can badly reduce the dissolved
oxygen concentration therefore this resulted to fish
kills because the aquatic animals living in that lake
wasn’t able to consume oxygen needed for
surviving.
B. Fish kills are often found in streams following
heavy rainfall in a watershed dominated by
farmland or denuded forestland. Explain why
this occurrence may occur.
The surface or top part has warm oxygen-rich water
rainfall occurs, it pours a lot of cool rain to the
stream. The rainwater is denser, so it sinks at the
bottom and it replaces the low amount of oxygen
and fundamentally mixes throughout the entire
stream, which lowers the oxygen levels of the entire
body of water. Thus, it results to fish kills.
9. Explain how the dissolved oxygen
concentrations may change starting at the
headwaters of a river and ending at the ocean.
Account for the changes.
Rapidly moving water like rivers contains a large
amount of dissolved oxygen compared to stagnant
water like ocean with less oxygen levels.
10. Salt (ocean) water generally has a lower
dissolved oxygen concentration than
freshwater at a given temperature. Explain why
this is generally observed.
At any given temperature, the saltwater will still be
held less dissolved oxygen because of the salt. Salt
in ocean reduces its freezing point in water.
Freshwater will held more amount of Dissolved
Oxygen.

8. A. Fish kills are often found near the discharge

point of water from cooling waters at electrical
generating power plants. Explain why this
occurrence may occur.

Power plants uses a large amount of water from a

nearby body of water for cooling the steam. These
withdrawals kill millions of aquatic organisms. Once
the cooling of the steam is done, the water is
released at a higher temperature back to where it

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 CM011L: CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS (LABORATORY)
1ST Quarter SY 2018-2019

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The experiment shows how the dissolved oxygen

concentration can be measured or determine by adding
reagents or indicators in the sample solution. The amount of
Dissolved Oxygen can be affected by many factors. As for
our experiment, the end results show that the sample water
contains 2.12 mg/L, we can conclude that it contains small
amount of Dissolved Oxygen and it can be said that the
sample solution has a poor quality for being a potable water
or be harm for the aquatic animals. I recommend to use
different trials for this experiment with different sample
solutions or water to see what sample has a better quality.

REFERENCES

Campbell, Dan, Linus Pauling, and Davis Pressman. "The

Nature of the Forces Between Antigen and Antibody and of
the Precipitation Reaction." Physiological Reviews
23.3 (1943): 203-219.

Clemente, J. (2013). Redox Titration: Winkler Method for

Dissolved Oxygen determination.

Dissolved Oxygen by the Winkler Method. (2018, January

30). Retrieved from
https://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/research_methods/envi
ron_sampling/oxygen.htm

Dissolved Oxygen. Retrieved from.

http://omp.gso.uri.edu/ompweb/doee/science/physical/chox
y1.htm

Power Plants Kill Fish. Retrieved from.

http://www.gracelinks.org/211/power-plants-kill-fish-an-
introduction

Water properties: Dissolved Oxygen.Retrieved

fromhttp://water.usgs.gov/edu/dissolvedoxygen.html

Water 2013, 5(2),420-

442; https://doi.org/10.3390/w5020420

Vollmar, B. (2016). Vollmar Pond and Lake Management

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