Environmental Geology Lab Lab#1

Lab # 01
To familiarize with Laboratory equipment and lab configuration

Objective

 To get familiar with different instrument in environmental geology lab.

 To get familiar with their use in industry.

Environmental geology

Environmental geology, like hydrogeology, is an applied science concerned with the practical
application of the principles of geology in the solving of environmental problems.

Environmental geology includes: managing geological and hydrogeological resources such as

fossil fuels, minerals, water (surface and groundwater), and land use. studying the earth's surface
through the disciplines of geomorphology, and edaphology; defining and mitigating exposure of
natural hazards on humans.

Importance of environmental geology:

Environmental geology is important in the following aspects:

● Managing geological and hydrogeological resources such as fossil fuels, minerals,

water (surface and ground water), and land use.
● Studying the earth’s surface through the disciplines of geomorphology, and
edaphology;
● Defining and mitigating exposure of natural hazards on humans
● Managing industrial and domestic waste disposal and minimizing or eliminating
effects of pollution, and
● Performing associated activities, often involving litigation.

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Layout of Environmental Geology Lab

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY LAB LAYOUT

LAYOUT 1 Environmental Geology lab

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Introduction

The above layout is the layout of environmental geology lab. The apparatuses present in this lab
are used for water investigations according to (World Health Organization) WHO standards. The
Environmental Geology lab is present in Geological Engineering Department, UET Lahore.
There are also some other equipments like evaporation pan, rain gauge, Water Level Indicator
etc. in this lab that are used in the application of hydrogeology.

Lab Equipments

1. Oven
2. Autoclave
3. PH Meter
4. Turbidity Meter
5. Conductivity Meter
6. TDS Meter
7. Photometer
8. Hot Plate
9. Paqua Lab

Related Theory

The details of above-mentioned Equipments are given below:

Oven

Oven is used for drying, dehydrating and evaporating. An oven is a thermally insulated chamber
used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance and most commonly used for cooking.
Different types of ovens are used for different purposes but we use oven in our lab mostly for
drying purpose.

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Figure 1 Oven

Autoclave

An autoclave is a pressure chamber used to carry out industrial processes requiring elevated
temperature and pressure different from ambient air pressure. Autoclaves are used in medical
applications to perform sterilization and in the chemical industry to cure coatings
and vulcanize rubber and for hydrothermal synthesis and sterliation is done by subjecting objects
to high pressure saturated steam at 121 °C (249°F) for around 15–20 minutes depending on the
size of the load and the contents.

Figure 2 Auto clave

PH Meter
A pH meter is a scientific instrument that measures the hydrogen-ion activity in water-based
solutions, indicating its acidity or alkalinity expressed as pH. The pH meter measures the
difference in electrical potential between a pH electrode and a reference electrode, and so the pH
meter is sometimes referred to as a "potentiometric pH meter". The difference in electrical

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potential relates to the acidity or pH of the solution. The pH meter is used in many applications
ranging from laboratory experimentation to quality control.

Figure 3 pH Meter

Turbidity Meter

The term “turbidity” is used to describe the cloudy or milky appearance of liquid or solid media
such as water (drinking, mineral, bathing or waste water), beverages (beer, wine or soft drinks)
or window glass (translucent glass). Turbidity meter is a device for measuring the turbidity of
water or other liquids by viewing light through them and determining how much light is
transmitted. A turbidity meter finds the clarity or haziness of a liquid mainly water.

Figure 4 Turbidity meter

Conductivity Meter

Conductivity is due to the dissolved salts in the water. Electrical Conductivity (EC) is defined by
the ability of a solution to conduct an electrical current. An electrical conductivity meter (EC

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meter) measures the electrical conductivity in a solution. It is commonly used
in hydroponics, aquaculture and freshwater systems to monitor the amount of nutrients, salts or
impurities in the water. The common laboratory conductivity meters employ a potentiometric
method and four electrodes. Often, the electrodes are cylindrical and arranged concentrically . The
electrodes are usually made of platinum metal. They are simply dipped in the water containing
beaker and the instrument measures the TDS as well as Electrical Conductivity. Washing the
beaker with distilled water before pouring the sample is very important. An alternating current is
applied to the outer pair of the electrodes.

Figure 5 Conductivity Meter

TDS Meter

TDS meter is used to find the total dissolved solids in the liquid mainly water. To measure TDS,
the water sample is filtered, and then the filtrate (the water that passes through the filter) is
evaporated in a pre-weighed dish and dried in an oven at 180oC, until the weight of the dish no
longer changes. The increase in weight of the dish represents the total dissolved solids, and is
reported in milligrams per liter (mg/l) as shown in figure below.

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Figure 6 TDS meter

Photometer

This is an instrument that measures light intensity or optical properties (reflection of light, light
absorption) of solutions or surfaces. A standard example of such a photometer consists of a piece
of paper with an oil spot on it that makes the paper slightly more transparent. When the spot is
not visible from either side, the illuminance from the two sides is equal.

Figure 7 Photometer

Hot Plate

A hot plate is an adjustable heating source which is ideal for heating beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks,
hot water baths, and other flat-bottomed containers. It is essentially an electric stove top that is
used in the laboratory. The temperature is adjustable (usually on a scale of 0 to 10) and there is
very often a built in spinning magnetic stirrer (to be used in combination with a magnetic star
bar) so that you can efficiently stir a solution while heating it.

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Figure 8 Hot plate

Paqualab

This instrument is used to measure the mineral quantity in water; there are some specific tablets,
each tablet for each mineral, i.e., potassium, magnesium etc. all will have their specific tablets.
For every mineral, the instrument needs to be set up at specific wavelength. The tablet is
dissolved in 10 ml of water and then water tube is placed in instrument and by calibrating with
distilled water giving 100 as reading, the sample water is also evaluated. The Paqualab is a
portable testing system for the key drinking water quality parameters. Laboratory standard
results can be obtained by operators The equipment provided in each Paqualab has been
specifically designed for field use. Aluminum replaces glass for many components for improved
strength and lighter weight. The incubators have 2 pre-set temperatures that are usually set to 37
and 44 oC. A range of bacteria growth media is available.

Figure 9 Paqualab

Comments
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 These instruments are very useful in water investigation.
 Water investigation is very important so that we can recognize that this water could be
used for drinking purpose or not.

References

 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/458005/photometer
 Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2 ed.), ed. Richard Cammack,
Teresa Atwood, Peter Campbell, Howard Parish, Anthony Smith, Frank Vella, and John
Stirling, Oxford University Press 2006,
  "pH Measurement - pH Measuring Chains". Beuth publishing DIN. Beuth Verlag GmbH.
Retrieved 28 March 2017.
 http://www.lovibond.com/en/pool/turbidity-meters
 http://www.lovibond.com/en/pool/photometer

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