Definition of Water Quality Parameters

Source: Testing the Waters: Chemical and Physical Vital Signs of a River by Sharon Behar. Montpelier, VT: River Watch Network, 1997. ISBN 0787234923

Base Flow vs. Storm Flow

Data is reported as being in a storm flow condition when a judgment is made by the data gatherer that the volume of water in the stream has significantly increased beyond a base flow condition, usually because of recent precipitation.

Temperature

Water temperature is affected by air temperature, stormwater runoff, groundwater inflows, turbidity, and exposure to sunlight. In considering the health of organisms, it is necessary to consider their maximum temperature and optimum temperature. The maximum temperature is the highest water temperature at which the organism will live for a few hours. The optimum temperature is the temperature at which it will thrive.

Fish Short-term maximum Optimum for Spawning
  Celsius Fahrenheit Celsius Fahrenheit
Bluegill 35 95 25 77
Brook trout 24 75 9 48

pH

pH is a measure of a solution's acidity. In water, small numbers of water molecules (H2O) will break apart or disassociate into hydrogen ions (H+) and hydroxide ions (OH-). Other compounds entering the water may react with these, leaving an imbalance in the numbers of hydrogen and hydroxide ions. When more hydrogen ions react, more hydroxide ions are left in solution and the water is basic; when more hydroxide ions react, more hydrogen ions are left and the water is acidic. pH is a measure of the number of hydrogen ions and thus a measure of acidity.

pH is measured on a logarithmic scale between 1 and 14 with 1 being extremely acid, 7 neutral, and 14 extremely basic. Because it is a logarithmic scale there is a ten fold increase in acidity for a change of one unit of pH, e.g. 5 is 100 times more acid than 7 on the pH scale. The largest variety of freshwater aquatic organisms prefer a pH range between 6.5 to 8.0.

Turbidity

Turbidity is a measure of how particles suspended in water affect water clarity. It is an important indicator of suspended sediment and erosion levels. Typically it will increase sharply during and after a rainfall, which causes sediment to be carried into the creek. Elevated turbidity will also raise water temperature, lower dissolved oxygen, prevent light from reaching aquatic plants which reduces their ability to photosynthesize, and harm fish gills and eggs.

Conductivity

 This is a measure of the capability of a solution such as water in a stream to pass an electric current. This is an indicator of the concentration of dissolved electrolyte ions in the water. It doesn't identify the specific ions in the water. However, significant increases in conductivity may be an indicator that polluting discharges have entered the water.

Every creek will have a baseline conductivity depending on the local geology and soils. Higher conductivity will result from the presence of various ions including nitrate, phosphate, and sodium.

The basic unit of measurement for conductivity is micromhos per centimeter (µmhos/cm) or microsiemens per centimeter (µS/cm). Either can be used, they are the same. It is a measure of the inverse of the amount of resistance an electric charge meets in traveling through the water. Distilled water has a conductivity ranging from 0.5 to 3 µS/cm, while most streams range between 50 to 1500 µS/cm. Freshwater streams ideally should have a conductivity between 150 to 500 µS/cm to support diverse aquatic life.

Dissolved Oxygen

Dissolved oxygen is oxygen gas molecules (O2) present in the water. Plants and animals cannot directly use the oxygen that is part of the water molecule (H2O), instead depending on dissolved oxygen for respiration. Oxygen enters streams from the surrounding air and as a product of photosynthesis from aquatic plants. Consistently high levels of dissolved oxygen are best for a healthy ecosystem.

Levels of dissolved oxygen vary depending on factors including water temperature, time of day, season, depth, altitude, and rate of flow. Water at higher temperatures and altitudes will have less dissolved oxygen. Dissolved oxygen reaches its peak during the day. At night, it decreases as photosynthesis has stopped while oxygen consuming processes such as respiration, oxidation, and respiration continue, until shortly before dawn.

Human factors that affect dissolved oxygen in streams include addition of oxygen consuming organic wastes such as sewage, addition of nutrients, changing the flow of water, raising the water temperature, and the addition of chemicals.

Dissolved oxygen is measured in mg/L.

0-2 mg/L: not enough oxygen to support life.
2-4 mg/L: only a few fish and aquatic insects can survive.
4-7 mg/L: good for many aquatic animals, low for cold water fish
7-11 mg/L: very good for most stream fish

Nitrate

Nitrogen is abundant on earth, making up about 80% of our air as N2 gas. Most plants cannot use it in this form. However, blue-green algae and legumes have the ability to convert N2 gas into nitrate (NO3-), which can be used by plants. Plants use nitrate to build protein, and animals that eat plants also use organic nitrogen to build protein. When plants and animals die or excrete waste, this nitrogen is released into the environment as NH4+ (ammonium). This ammonium is eventually oxidized by bacteria into nitrite (NO2-) and then into nitrate. In this form it is relatively common in freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Nitrate thus enters streams from natural sources like decomposing plants and animal waste as well as human sources like sewage or fertilizer.

Nitrate is measured in mg/L. Natural levels of nitrate are usually less than 1 mg/L. Concentrations over 10 mg/L will have an effect on the freshwater aquatic environment. 10 mg/L is also the maximum concentration allowed in human drinking water by the U.S. Public Health Service. For a sensitive fish such as salmon the recommended concentration is 0.06 mg/L.

Water with low dissolved oxygen may slow the rate at which ammonium is converted to nitrite (NO2-) and finally nitrate (NO3-). Nitrite and ammonium are far more toxic than nitrate to aquatic life.

Phosphate

Phosphorus in small quantities is essential for plant growth and metabolic reactions in animals and plants. It is the nutrient in shortest supply in most fresh waters, with even small amounts causing significant plant growth and having a large effect on the aquatic ecosystem. Phosphate-induced algal blooms may initially increase dissolved oxygen via photosynthesis, but after these blooms die more oxygen is consumed by bacteria aiding their decomposition. This may cause a change in the types of plants which live in an ecosystem.

Sources of phosphate include animal wastes, sewage, detergent, fertilizer, disturbed land, and road salts used in the winter.

Phosphates do not pose a human or health risk except in very high concentrations. It is measured in mg/L. Larger streams may react to phosphate only at levels approaching 0.1 mg/L, while small streams may react to levels of PO4-3 at levels of 0.01 mg/L or less. In general, concentrations over 0.05 will likely have an impact while concentrations greater than 0.1 mg/L will certainly have impact on a river.