About ALLARM's blog
Welcome to the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring’s (ALLARM) blog! The ALLARM team has a number of fun adventures working with communities and volunteers interested in assessing the health of their streams. The goal of our blog is to share our experiences and bring you on our journey. We hope you learn more about community-based science and the amazing work taking place in Pennsylvania and New York. If you would like to learn more about ALLARM, go to dickinson.edu/allarm and follow us on social media @ALLARMwater!
Address: Dickinson College/ALLARM
P.O. Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013
Tel: (717) 245-1565
Email: allarm@dickinson.edu
Volunteer Monitoring
Summer Watershed Coordinators take on Farmers on the Square!
This summer, three of our student watershed coordinators had the opportunity to attend Carlisle’s “Farmers on the Square” as vendors representing water quality efforts in the region. On June 24th and July 22nd, they set up a table and answered questions regarding local water quality,…
A pH Experiment: The Effect of Light on Color
pH stands for “Potential of Hydrogen” which measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is. pH is an important indicator of stream health. At ALLARM, the LaMotte Precision pH Test Kit is used to measure the hydrogen ion concentration (pH) in water. The more hydrogen ions that are present, the more acidic is the solution (Wood…
A Nitrate Experiment: The Effect of Light on Color
Which light environment should we test for nitrate in? Nitrate is an important indicator of stream health. At ALLARM, the LaMotte Nitrate-Nitrogen Tablet Kit is used to measure the concentration (mg/L) of nitrate-nitrogen in water. Nitrate- nitrogen (NO3-N) measures the amount of nitrogen in the nitrate ion (NO3-) (1). Nitrate ions are a major form of dissolved nitrogen in water due to high solubility (2). Although nitrate is a necessary nutrient…