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Challenge Team Interim Report

Team Number: 050 School Name: Robertson High School Area of Science: Environmental Science Project Title: Simulation of Volatile Chemicals in Water Tables

In the future one of our biggest concerns is environmental hazards and pollution. The pollution of water is a big concern to our health. As chemicals get seep into the aquifer there is a risk of the water becoming unsafe. We will be taking a look at how the chemicals that get into the aquifer and effect our water as a whole. Because wells are connected to aquifer and our water comes from the wells this is our concern. For this supercomputer challenge we will happen with the water found in and around Las Vegas, New Mexico based on the information found in the water tables. These water tables are in reference to the water found in and around the wells at the dumpsite. We will attempt to analyze and simulate different affects on the water table. We will be measuring different chemical abundance's in the water tables and simulate increased values for the chemical abundance's and their effects on the water table. This program will take into consideration different equations to do the analysis and simulation. It is our hope that this program can be implemented by the city or by others to analyze their water with the use of water tables and computers.

Our first mentor was Kenneth Bentson who is an Environmental Scientist at New Mexico Highlands University. Our original plan was to determine the seepage and contamination of motor oil into the aquifer, but was changed by knowledge provided by Kenneth Bentson. He presented a most compelling argument that motor oil is not very soluble in water and that the elements cadmium and nickel, which are both found in batteries, are soluble in water. Thus by realizing that both chemicals can enter and react with the aquifer much easier than motor oil, these chemicals would be easier to work with.

Using the report "Assessment Monitoring ", prepared for the New Mexico Environmental Department, we found information pertaining to our project. The report contains information on properties of the elements Cadmium and Nickel and also the dissolving aspects of the contaminants in water.

Our next mentor was Rolando Rael from the Biology department. He showed us a couple websites that contain already programmed models that we could base ours off. We got a single-dimension model called Chemflo that illustrates if the chemical will actually reach the aquifer, and if any reaction will occur.

Our project is continuing now with learning how to program models using C++. Since our school does not provide any programming classes for its students the resources we have turn back to New Mexico Highlands University for learning the skills that we will need. Wayne Summers, a professor at NMHU and another mentor for our project, is teaching us the basics of programming.

Team Members

Team Mail

• Keith Summers
• Jessica Pino
• Fabian Aragon
• Zach Karim
• Nathan Sanchez

Sponsoring Teachers

• Clayton Quintana

Project Advisor(s)

• Wayne Summers
• Rolando Rael