On Monday 17th June the Year 13 Chemistry class braved rain, icy winds and low temperatures to travel to Taieri Mouth to collect water samples for analysis.

The students were tasked with determining whether or not there was a trend in the chloride ion concentration moving up the Taieri River, away from the river mouth. After collecting their samples and drying out, the students visited the Mellor Laboratory at Otago University for the next one and a half days. While they were there they carried out both dilutions and titrations, a precise method of reacting two chemical species together. They will now take their results and analyse them in order to produce a report. Special thanks to the University of Otago for allowing us to use their modern facilities and Ms Civil for keeping the van warm while the students braved the rainy conditions!