Water Pollution Monitoring

Who monitors water pollution? Environment Agency may give consent to discharge under Environmental Protection Act (1990) OFWAT ( Office of Water Services) regulates the water industry provides a consumer complaints service, under the water quality standards.

What needs to be monitored? Physical properties Water temperature Water depth Turbidity (TSS) Useful additional information that helps to provide predictions of the impact of a pollution incident

What needs to be monitored? Chemical properties Oxygen content Nitrates Phosphates Ammonium pH Salinity Heavy metals Biological oxygen demand With chemical properties we can directly identify the pollutant by source and take the appropriate actions Needs training and is time consuming

What needs to be monitored? Biological properties Biological Index uses indicator species Different species will appear/disappear at known levels of contamination Pros Cheap to undertake Gives instant results No need to identify individual pollutants  Cons Problems of identification Could be another cause for an organism’s absence

Indicator Species Species of plants or animals that, by their presence or absence indicate how polluted the environment is Sulphur dioxide = lichens Water quality = invertebrates May indicate: pH Oxygen levels Pollutant levels

Clean water

Low pollution level

High pollution level Water louse Bloodworm

Very High pollution level Rat-tailed maggot Sludgeworm