With health disparity becoming a focused and urgent problem in Los Angeles county, one way to test the extent of such inequality is through the quality of public drinking water. Samples of drinking water are collected and tested from public sources such as water fountains located in Los Angeles county cities. This study links the relationship between the quality of drinking water and the socioeconomic status of each city. Quality of water is evaluated by levels of contaminants of concern as well as normal water factors such as pH, temperature, conductivity, and water hardness. Chloride, Copper, Nitrate, Nitrite, chromium, and arsenic contaminants were tested as these are the most common contaminants which occur from lack of care in water systems. For water hardness, which is the level of Calcium and Magnesium ions, EDTA titration with Eriochrome Black T indicator is used to find total water hardness in units of parts per million (ppm). Temperature, and conductivity are tested on-site via portable, electronic apparati. pH is determined with Bromothymol blue indicator. Hatch and LaMotte Kits were used to test the common contaminants at the collection site. Upon collection, the rest of the water sample is refrigerated and maintained at a pH of 2 for titrations in the lab. Results found indicate high water hardness in the Pasadena and La Canada-Flintridge areas.

Investigative comparison between drinking water quality and socioeconomic status in Los Angeles County

2019 Spring National Meeting

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