The Relationship between Phosphorus Levels and Dissolved Oxygen Concentration in an Oklahoma Pond

Abstract

Recent observations of different Oklahoma lakes have implied a connection between increased phosphorus levels and decreased dissolved oxygen content in the water (Carter, 2013). The purpose of our experiment was to discover the reason for the supposed correlation between the two. To do this, we tested environmental samples of water from three areas of Dolese pond, a body of water located in Oklahoma. Samples were taken from Dolese creek, the pond inflow; the main portion of Dolese pond; and the pond outflow in the Dolese west pond outlet. Our hypothesis is that areas of the pond containing more phosphorus will contain less oxygen because phosphorus causes the growth of algae, which is then decomposed by oxygen-consuming microorganisms (Hoefnagels, 2015).