The purpose of this experiment was to see if the nitrate and salt levels in streams were greater in rural or urban Pennsylvania. To do this experiment ten different stream samples were taken from rural and urban Pennsylvania, and then were labeled. To test for nitrates, water was poured into a small test tube and a tablet from Dry Tab Nitrate NO Test Kit was put in. A second tablet was then dropped in after the first one was dissolved and the tube was shaken for one minute. The test tube sat for five minutes, and then was compared to a color chart, reading how many nitrates were in the water. To test for salt, the rest of the water sample was poured into a shallow 500 ml container, and a SeaTest hydrometer was dipped into the water. Any air bubbles would make the reading incorrect, so the hydrometer was tapped against a flat surface to dislodge them. The pointer then moves to the amount of salt in the water. Then the results from rural Pennsylvania were compared to the results from urban Pennsylvania.
After the experiment it was found that there was more salt in urban Pennsylvania than rural Pennsylvania (1.0 vs. 0.3). It was also found that there was more nitrates in urban Pennsylvania than rural Pennsylvania.