The chemical test came back negative.

The biological test showed there is something killing the water fleas.
Owner of the water slide stated that there is no chlorine in the water upstream.

Juan states that he is glad that the test came out as negative, but water fleas can be used as bioindicators for water testing.

In water flea testing, there were supposed to be at least 12 to be healthy, (or more), and upstream from the water slide was 13. Downstream from the slide, there was only 1

Owner acts suspicious about the water flea testing.

800 miles North from the Gray Area, workers at a waterpark accidentally spilled 250 gallons of chlorine, killing hundreds of fish.

One child dies from E.Coli at a a waterpark in a neighboring state of Gray Bay.

Ken Unballe emailed gungadin@side (employee) that they should only test the river after the chlorine hasn't been dumped into the river for a week, so the results would definetly come out as a test result of no chlorine in the river.

Ken emails the same employee saying that they need to do something about Juan testing for the water fleas.

Ken emails employee again saying that he loves the employee's idea about dumping a bunch of water fleas into the river downstream right before Juan does his testing.

In the article about bioindicators, it states that water fleas are very sensitive and can detect problems in the water.

According to the waterslide schedule, they release used water from the slide into the river on Wednesday. As also stated in previous notes, (emails), the owner of the water slide, (Ken), said only to test the river for chlorine on Tuesday, a week since the water has been released into the river.
water_flea.jpg

WATER SLIDE SCHEDULE:Test done on tuesday and water poored in river Wednesday
Monday
8 am - 7 pm: Open to Public
7 pm: Bacteria Tests
Tuesday
8 am - 7 pm: Open to Public
7 pm: Bacteria Tests
8 pm: Pump new water from river into holding tanks and add chlorine
Wednesday
CLOSED TO PUBLIC
6 am: Release used water into river
10 am: Pump water from holding tanks into pools
1 pm: Bacteria Tests
Thursday
8 am - 7 pm: Open to Public
7 pm: Bacteria Tests
Friday
8 am - 7 pm: Open to Public
7 pm: Bacteria Tests
Saturday
8 am - 7 pm: Open to Public
7 pm: Bacteria Tests
Sunday
8 am - 7 pm: Open to Public
7 pm: Bacteria Tests



EMAILS:


Mime-Version: 1.0
To: gungadin@slide
From: kenunball@slide (Ken Unballe)
Subject: Chlorine Tests
The Board of Supervisors is going to have a meeting about whether we should be shut down. We’ve got to keep the public on our side, and make this chlorine thing go away. Before the board meeting, I’m ordering the water downstream from our dump pipes to be tested for chlorine by a chemist, but check out the Water Slide Schedule, and I think you’ll see why I think the chemist should only collect samples on Tuesday night!
Ken


Mime-Version: 1.0
To: gungadin@slide
From: kenunball@slide (Ken Unballe)
Subject: more on chlorine tests
I thought we were done with this after the chlorine test the chemist did--guess not. Now I hear that some mixed up kid thinks he is going to save the water slide by doing a different kind of test. He’s going to test the water in the Fo River where we dump our water slide water, by counting water fleas. I guess the idea is that if there are water fleas, then there’s not too much chlorine, because they’re really sensitive to it, or something. Any ideas about what to do? This is getting serious!
Ken


Mime-Version: 1.0
To: gungadin@slide
From: kenunball@slide (Ken Unballe)
Subject: re: re: more on chlorine tests
I like your idea of buying a bunch of water fleas and dumping them in the water just before the kid does the test. Can you be in charge of ordering them and taking care of what needs to happen? Of course this should all be kept confidential.
Ken
P.S.--let’s talk about a raise for you soon!



NEWSPAPER ARTICLES:


A6 Lawrence Hall Gazette Friday, January 19, 2001
E.Coli Outbreak
E.Coli from Water Park in Neighboring State Kills One Child
By Jacquey Cort
FULL COURT PRESS
One of the twenty-six children who got sick with E.Coli bacteria in Shady Park wading pool died yesterday. She is the only child in the nation known to have died this way. The children were probably contaminated by an infected child who was in the pool, scientists said. Normally bacteria are killed by chlorine in the pool, but in this case, bacteria survived long enough to spread to other children. Investigation continues into the pool’s chlorine content.


SCIENCE
Fo River Passes Chlorine Test
Chemist tests river water and announces it’s chlorine free
By Felicia Barakos
THE OLIVE PRESS
A local water slide park voluntarily collected samples from the Fo River downstream from where they release their used water. Chemists tested the river water and announced that there is no chlorine in it, and that it is safe for wildlife. “I knew we weren’t killing the fish,” said Ken Unballe, owner of the park. “That’s why I volunteered to collect the samples to be tested.”


Chlorine Spill
Hundreds of fish and wildlife dead
By Carolyn Tong
BENCH PRESS
At Waving Waters water slide park, located 800 miles north of Gray Bay, workers accidentally spilled 250 gallons of chlorine yesterday, killing hundreds of fish and many other wildlife in Fiasco Creek. When used safely, chlorine cleans our water, and prevents diseases. The World Health Organization estimates that 25,000 children die from waterborne diseases each day in parts of the world where chlorinated water is not used.



BIOINDICATORS AND BIOLOGICAL TESTING:


What are Bioindicators?

Bioindicators are animals and plants that are sensitive to changes in their environment--they indicate or show that changes are taking place. Different bioindicators are sensitive to different types of changes. Scientists study changes in the populations of animal and plant bioindicators to see if an environment is healthy.

Using Water Fleas as Bioindicators

Water fleas, also called daphnia, are tiny animals in the same family as shrimp. There are water fleas in almost every body of water. They eat algae and microscopic animals by sweeping them into their mouths with their waving legs. Many kinds of fish eat water fleas.

Because water fleas are very sensitive, we can use them as bioindicators to tell if there is a problem in the water. Small amounts of chlorine can kill water fleas, so a drop in their numbers tells us there may be chlorine pollution. A lack of water fleas could also mean:

  • Not enough dissolved oxygen in the water for them to breathe.
  • Water is too acidic or too basic.
  • Unhealthy amounts of a chemical other than chlorine.