1. Water Pollution Monitoring

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Clean water

8. Low pollution level

9. High pollution level
Water louse
Bloodworm

10. Very High pollution level
Rat-tailed maggot
Sludgeworm