Water Monitoring

When Water Testing… Testers look for many things! Turbidity: how many suspended particles are in water (FTU). More Turbid  less PS less O2 in water

High or Low Turbidity? Low Turbidity HighTurbidity

Salinity How much salt is in water. Ocean = high salinity River = low salinity Changing levels will kill orgs in water. Salt 

E.Coli Bacteria Used as an indicator species to detect cont. water supplies b/c it’s found in human/animal feces.

1 colony of bacteria per 100mL is unsafe to drink (EPA) Total Coliform Instead of testing for all types of bacteria, usually total coliform is measured 1 colony of bacteria per 100mL is unsafe to drink (EPA)

Colder water holds more DO! Dissolved Oxygen O2 in water Healthy water = DO > 8 ppm Oxygen-poor water <2ppm; only supports detritivores O2 removed by respiration, added by PS! Colder water holds more DO!

Detritivores Orgs that eat dead organic matter (dead leaves, algae, etc) Land: termites, fungus Water: shrimp (turds of the ocean), worms, snails (dead stuff at bottom)

I want your Bod… Biological Oxygen Demand: demand for O2 that detritivores place on system how much O2 is used by orgs over a 5 day period

Nitrates, NO3- Plants love NO3 (often limiting resource)! Comes from fertilizers and manure runoff. Too much runoff in water causes eutrophication.

NO3 Cause Blue Baby Syndrome! A medicine called methylene blue is used to treat persons with severe methemoglobinemia High NO3 in ground water  decreased O2 carrying capacity of hemoglobin in babies  death

Phosphates, PO4 Plants love them! Use of detergents and manure runoff (car wash, Windex) Causes eutrophication

Contains much phosphates! Guano! Contains much phosphates!

Transport of Nitrate and Phosphate Fertilizers… Burns fossil fuels  global warming

Fishies Die When.. 1) Sewage/waste added  stimulate O2 consumption by detritivores 2) Algal Blooms: eutrophication kills fish

Kunming, Yunnan province: Workers try to clear blue-green algae from Dianchi lake

Steps of Eutrophication Nutrients (NO3 and PO4) are added to water Increase in nutrients cause an algae bloom As bloom progresses, algae begins to die Dead algae accumulates on bottom of lake

Steps of Eutrophication 5) Dead org. matter supports a boom in detritivore pops. 6) Detritivores rapidly rob water of its O2, suffocating most orgs (like fish)

Controlling Eutrophication Biofiltration: NO3 and PO4 removed by plants before running off

Controlling Eutrophication Use PO4-free detergents Wash car at a car wash (recycle H2O, treated water)