Monitoring Water Quality

Water Test

1. Salinity- Measures amount of dissolved salt in water

Needs to stay fairly constant

2. Dissolved Oxygen (DO) - measures the amount of oxygen in water

Too little DO is bad (fish will die) Cold water holds more DO than warm

water.

pH

3. pH - measures how acidic or basic the water is

7.0 is neutral 6.5-8.5 is acceptable range Acid rain major source of the problem

Temperature

Temperature: average amount of heat in water

Varies due to seasons or location (higher elevations have cooler water)

Cold water is better because it holds more oxygen.

Turbidity

Turbidity- clearness of water

Affected by sediment, excessive algae growth and storms.

Cloudy water is bad.

Chlorine Water can come from a variety of sources,

such as lakes and wells, that can be contaminated with germs which can make people sick.

Germs can also contaminate water as it travels through miles of piping to get to a community. To prevent this, water companies add a disinfectant that kills germs.

The most commonly added disinfectants are chlorine and monochloramine.

Copper

Copper occurs in drinking water primarily due to its use in plumbing materials and the corrosion of copper pipes. As with lead, all water is corrosive toward copper to some degree, even water termed non-corrosive or water that is treated to make it less corrosive.

The maximum contaminate goal for drinking water for copper is 1.3 ppm. (limit for safe drinking water)

Hardness

Hard water is water that contains dissolved substances called minerals. These minerals contain the elements calcium or magnesium.

Hard water is not a health risk but is a nuisance because of mineral buildup on plumbing fixtures’ and poor soap and or detergent performance.

Phosphates/Nitrates

4. Phosphates and nitrates- come from fertilizer and animal waste

Causes algal blooms which depletes the oxygen which kills the fish

Nitrates/ nitrites continued

The drinking water standard for nitrate-N is 10 ppm, or one hundredth of a gram in one liter of water. The nitrite-N standard is 1 ppm. These standards only regulate public water supplies, but the health risks are the same for private well owners.

Nitrates/ Nitrites

Nitrates are essential plant nutrients, but in excess amounts they can cause significant water quality problems.

Sources of nitrates include wastewater treatment plants, runoff from fertilized lawns and cropland, failing on-site septic systems, runoff from animal manure storage areas, and industrial discharges that contain corrosion inhibitors.