Water Quality Natural & Controlled Environments
Monitoring natural environments Photo courtesy of Melissa Gutierrez
So who monitors our natural waters? Environmental Protection Agency- –Mission- protect human health, safeguard environment Clean Water Act (1972)- law regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters
Nitrates (NO 3 ) & phosphates (PO 4 ) Run-off from commercial fertilizers and animal waste to near-by storm drains and creeks Scale from 0 – 1 ppm Can increase algal blooms and aquatic plants hypoxia (low oxygen)
Dissolved oxygen necessary for most life hypoxia lowers tolerance to stressors (pathogens, pollution, etc.) death enters water as a product of photosynthetic organisms & by water/air interactions Aquarium O 2 = 7-9
Air temperature Varies Affects water temperature Which water would you rather jump in to?
Water temperature Varies Changes less rapidly than air temperature Cold water holds more DO
pH Range from 0-14 measuring acidity ( 7) of substance pH of Water = 7.0
Turbidity Secchi disk- Measures transparency of fresh or saltwater
Fecal coliform bacteria Coliform bacteria (E. coli) found in feces & intestinal tract of warm-blooded animals Its presence may indicate presence of other harmful pathogens Animal waste washes into bodies of water after heavy rains
The Dead Zone
Hypoxia and anthropogenically increased nitrogen and phosphorus input
World Wide Effects of Eutrophication
Monitoring controlled environments