Post-Post week 2--What about my water, waste, and electricity?

Post-Post for week 2--class on August 31

What about my water, waste and electricity?

I have now lived in Polk County for over 24 years, and because I care and read the newspaper, I am aware of the discussions about people and issues regarding water and electricity. For instance, I know that a smart, Hispanic woman was the director of the Lakeland landfill on Winter Lake Road.  She made history by being the first woman in that position, and she was multitalented--she literally drove one of the tractors as well as developed new policies and procedures to make the whole process of managing trash more efficient. I was personally acquainted with two Lakeland Electric executives, (in both cases my kids were friends with their kids.) I liked one as a person, not as a policy maker. I liked the other for his creative problem solving, but he lacked people skills. And my electricity comes from the McIntosh plant on Lake Parker. Our whole neighborhood receives water from the water treatment plant on Hwy 37 B, and we all have septic tanks in our backyards.

Testing for water quality

I drove 420 miles to Niceville, Florida for Labor Day weekend. Because Tropical Storm Lee was churning away in the nearby Gulf of Mexico, we had a wet, windy weekend. Saturday, between bands of rain, I invited my adventurous brother-in-law to help me test the water quality in Shirk's bayou, which laps the dock in Joe's backyard. Joe read the booklet and checked out the kit while we had coffee and homemade bread. So he was ready to go when the rain gave us a break. We spent a total of 25 minutes checking the water, including my hike back up to the house for the camera. (I took a couple of pictures of Joe, and he took one or two of me :-) A small collection of tiny fish nibbled on me as I waded in the warm water. I don't know what they were, but because they were living fish (and nibbles don't hurt) I was secretly happy!

I have officially registered at www.WorldWaterMonitoringDay.org and I'll be recording our findings:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011

Location: Shirk's Bayou in Niceville, Florida (latitude=30.4916 longitude=86.4674)

Specifically, Joe and Susan's backyard

Air Temp: 80 f

Turbidity: 10-15

Water Temp: 28 c

DO: 51



pH: 7

When we returned to the dry house, Joe was able to Skype his mom and dad and give them a report on the water quality. We wished for higher dissolved oxygen content, but we were pretty pleased with the pH and the turbidity. The plan was to visit our favorite creek and check out the water there, but the constant rain discouraged us from following through. I'm sad to miss measuring Turkey Creek water, but there is always our next visit--Thanksgiving :-)