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Testing The Waters A Water Quality Workshop
- 1. © H. Verheul Sierra Club of Canada Atlantic Chapter Testing the Waters: A Water Quality Workshop
- 2. Sierra Club of Canada Atlantic Chapter A member-based organization that empowers people to protect, restore and enjoy a healthy and safe planet. © H. Verheul © H. Verheul
- 3. Sierra Club of Canada Atlantic Chapter © H. Verheul © H. Verheul Main focus of Halifax office is education. This workshop is a reaction to member interest in water quality testing.
- 10. What is a Watershed? The area of land where all of the water that drains off it goes into the same place. Other names for watersheds are a catchment, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. (http://www.cwp.org )
- 12. What is a Watershed? http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/water.strategy/docs/WaterStrategy_NSWatershedMap.pdf
- 13. The integrity of a watershed ecosystem is directly linked to water quality Bedrock geology, soils, vegetation, atmospheric deposition and land uses will all affect the water quality of a lake or stream. © H. Verheul
- 14. The importance of a watershed All living things in a given watershed are linked by their common water course. © H. Verheul
- 20. The Water Balance in a Lake: Scraggy Lake http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/ea/MooseRiver/FocusReportTouquoyGoldProject.pdf
- 29. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Quality Assurance covers the overall water quality monitoring plan. Quality control is measures that are taken to minimize errors and maintain precision, accuracy, representativeness, completeness and comparability of the data. © H. Verheul
- 39. Guidelines and Regulations http://ceqg-rcqe.ccme.ca/ (CCME 1999)
- 43. Delivering of Monitoring Outcomes to Decision Makers: Strategy (Wieler, 2007)
- 51. QEII Environmental Services Laboratory Lab Testing Capabilities Major Ions and Nutrients Alkalinity NO3+NO2 Ammonia pH Calcium Potassium Chloride Silica Color Sodium Conductivity Sulfate Hardness TKN Fluoride Total Nitrogen Dissolved Organic Carbon Total Phosphorous Magnesium Turbidity Trace Elements Aluminum Manganese Antimony Molybdenum Arsenic Nickel Barium Selenium Beryllium Silver Boron Strontium Cadmium Thallium Chromium Tin Cobalt Titanium Copper Uranium Iron Vanadium Lead Zinc Lithium Total Coliforms and E.coli
- 58. References Bartram J. and Ballance R. 1996. Water Quality Monitoring: A practical guide to the design and implementation of freshwater quality studies and monitoring programmes. United Nations Environment Programmes, World Health Organization. Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME). 1999. Canadian water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. In: Canadian environmental quality guidelines. Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Available at: http://ceqg-rcqe.ccme.ca/?config=ccme&thesite=ceqg&words=&image.x=8&image.y=8 Glenen J. and Sharpe A. 2009. Annapolis River 2008 Annual Water Quality Monitoring Report. Clean Annapolis River Project. Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Available at: http://www.annapolisriver.ca/downloads/Annapolis_River_Guardians_2008.pdf MacMillan et al. 2005. Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2582: Characterization of Summer Water Temperatures for 312 selected sites in Nova Scotia. Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Moncton, New Brunswick. Wieler C. 2007. Delivery of Ecological Monitoring Information to Decision-Makers. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Network, Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario. Available at: http://www.eman-rese.ca/eman/reports/publications/intro.html
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Good morning everyone! Thanks for coming to todays workshop! I hope you are all excited to learn about water quality!
- To start, I should tell you all a little about the Sierra Club, just in case you don’t know yet. The Sierra Club is a member-based organization that empowers people to protect, restore and enjoy a healthy and safe planet… the Atlantic Chapter has two educational programs in the working, one for elementary school students, and one for highschool school students, called EcoBuddies, where highschool students are given the opportunity to take buddy up with an elementary level student to teach them about environmental issues.
- To start, I should tell you all a little about the Sierra Club, just in case you don’t know yet. The Sierra Club is a member-based organization that empowers people to protect, restore and enjoy a healthy and safe planet… the Atlantic Chapter has two educational programs in the working, one for elementary school students, and one for highschool school students, called EcoBuddies, where highschool students are given the opportunity to take buddy up with an elementary level student to teach them about environmental issues.
- Sooo, a quick overview of today’s workshop. We will start will a presentation by the Sierra Club… that’s me… – I will talk about what it is to have a water quality monitoring program and the steps and precautions one must take when undertaking a program. Second, Cathy Conrad of the Community Based Environmental Monitoring Network of St Mary’s University will tell you a little about the network… what they do and have to offer. Third, the Eastern Shore Forest Watch will tell you a little about their initiatives. And at last, you will have the opportunity to get your hands dirty with a Water Quality Testing Workshop! We will tell you a little about a few different tools that are available through the Community Based Environmental Monitoring Network… you will learn about the things that you can test for and how they are relevant to water quality.
- The water quality of a stream, river or lakes is different than drinking water water quality, however, at some point downstream, they are one and the same. Say people pump water from a lake in order to wash dishes or cook with, or they get their drinking water from a well, their water at some point comes from somewhere and the water quality is only as good as their treatment system.
- If you are unsure about getting involved with water quality monitoring, then here are a few reasons why Community-Based monitoring can be an asset to you, your community and your local water bodies. Your community can become more aware of the current health of local waters, and through the process of learning about water quality, your community will become aware of potential threats to your water resources. Develops an understanding in the community of how actions impact the environment, in hope that with such knowledge, community members will take caution when undertaking activities that may affect water resources. It helps community members participate in the management of their local resources. Community members involved in monitoring can raise awareness of issues involved in utilizing water resources and may be able to influence decisions. All in all, community based water quality monitoring can be a good thing for your community as it gives people a chance to get involved with community issues and to spend time with one another. After all, water is the livelihood of the community members and it is natural to care.
- Who can do water quality monitoring? Well, pretty much anyone can do water quality monitoring if they take the initiative… Local community members Community groups and organizations Environmental stewardship groups Government agencies Industry However, we are here today because everyone in this room can take do water quality monitoring, no matter what category you fall under.
- When embarking on a water quality monitoring program, it is important not to just monitor for the sake of monitoring but have a purpose. This will allow you to set goals for your program and ensure that the data collected will be of use later on. Here are a few examples of purposes for water quality monitoring: To verify whether or not the water quality is suitable for intended uses: such recreational activities like swimming, fishing, irrigation, livestock watering and consumption or wildlife uses. To determine trends in water quality and to determine how the water quality is impacted by external inputs such as sewage treatment effluent, industrial effluent and farming and construction runoff. To monitor background quality of the water as a means to compare the results later on when conducting impact monitoring. This is called monitoring for baseline data, and it is important to research what it is that might impact the water quality later on so that the baseline data is relevant.
- Bedrock geology, soils, vegetation, atmospheric deposition and land uses will all affect the water quality of a lake or stream because surface runoff will pick up material as it flows through a watershed and carry towards a water body.
- Now to take a step back… we will first define exactly what is a watershed. The most comprehensive definition that I could find was this: The area of land where all of the water that drains off it goes into the same place. Some of you may know what a watershed is but as another name such as a catchment, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, and water basin.
- Insert watershed maps from whichever region the workshop is located! A watershed may be of any size and will likely contain smaller watersheds called sub-basins. Here is a map of all of the largest watersheds in Nova Scotia… as you can see, the land area of each is quite large. Each of these will contain a lot of smaller watersheds which will in turn contain even smaller watersheds. However, all of these small watersheds will eventually contribute to these large watersheds. Here is a smaller map showing the break up of some very small watershed areas which flow into Scraggy Lake. They are all connected through Scraggy lake and further downstream from Scraggy lake this water would connect with water from other watersheds.
- Insert watershed maps from whichever region the workshop is located! A watershed may be of any size and will likely contain smaller watersheds called sub-basins. Here is a map of all of the largest watersheds in Nova Scotia… as you can see, the land area of each is quite large. Each of these will contain a lot of smaller watersheds which will in turn contain even smaller watersheds. However, all of these small watersheds will eventually contribute to these large watersheds. Here is a smaller map showing the break up of some very small watershed areas which flow into Scraggy Lake. They are all connected through Scraggy lake and further downstream from Scraggy lake this water would connect with water from other watersheds.
- Bedrock geology, soils, vegetation, atmospheric deposition and land uses will all affect the water quality of a lake or stream because surface runoff will pick up material as it flows through a watershed and carry towards a water body.
- As was shown by the last slide, water is what links one area to another. Activities in one area can affect another simply through their common water course. For this reason, it is good to be aware of how actions can propagate downstream and be felt by other communities and wildlife.
- A water quality parameter is a measurement which can be used to understand the quality of the water. Examples are pH (or acidity), dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids and clarity. We will go over a few of the more common parameters that are tested for including the ones that we will test for today.
- As you can see, the hydrologic cycle include precipitation, infiltration, condensation, water table, evaporation, transpiration, groundwater flow, stream flow, percolation and surface runoff. Through each of these mediums, contaminants can be carried throughout. When developing a water quality monitoring program, these should be considered. The testing site locations should be chosen corresponding the course of water flow.
- As water moves between the oceans, the Earth and the atmosphere the earth acts as a large filtration system, but one which you can’t change the filter.
- When choosing a sample station in a lake, the points at which water enters and leaves the lake should be considered. Water may flow into a lake through rivers and streams that may carry materials that are both artificial and natural, from water and wastewater treatment plants and industry, through agricultural drainage, rainfall and groundwater flow. Some of these are point sources and a testing site can be easily chosen, however, others, such as rainfall, groundwater flow and agricultural drainage, may not enter the lake at a specific point and therefore measure the impact on the lake from such inputs may be more difficult.
- Where water water flows out of a lake may be of equal importance, this may be through rivers and streams, evaporation and groundwater, removal for public, agricultural and industrial use. Again, outlets through rivers and streams or for public, agricultural and industrial use may be simple to target, while evaporation and groundwater may not be.
- Here is a rundown of some of the things that must be taken into account when designing a water quality monitoring strategy: When setting objectives and defining a strategy for a water quality monitoring program, some questions that can be asked are: Why is monitoring going to be conducted? Is it for basic information, planning and policy information, management and operational information, regulation and compliance, resource assessment, or other purposes? What information is required on water quality for various uses? Which variables should be measured, at what frequency and in response to which natural or man-made events? What is practical in terms of the human and financial resources available for monitoring? There is little point in setting unrealistic objectives. Who is responsible for the different elements of monitoring? Who is going to use the monitoring data and what are they intending to do with the information? Will it support management decisions, ensure compliance with standards, identify priorities for action, provide early warning of future problems or detect gaps in current knowledge?
- Objectives: what are you interested in knowing? Examples of objectives include: to develop control to determine whether or not current discharges into a water body satisfy rules and regulations to understand the effects that deteriorating water quality have on plant and aquatic life in, or near, the water body to develop measures that will prevent further deterioration of a water body
- The quality of water will be related to the activities that take place in the area and the make-up of the surrounding land area. Run-off from the land will pick up materials and carry them into the water body, affecting the quality of the water. Any human activity in the area may result in discharge into the water body also affecting the quality of the water. Therefore it is important to describe the watershed area in order gain insight into what and where to expect certain testing results. A description of the monitoring area should include: Definition of the extent of the area – on a map, the watershed area should be defined Summary of the environmental conditions and processes that may affect water quality - this may include human activities such as recreational, agricultural and industrial uses and other land-uses like residential and commercial neighbourhoods - the geologic make-up of the area including the top soil, bedrock and forests Description of the water bodies in the area, such as rivers, lakes and streams. Qualities such as size…… Summary of current and potential uses of water like waste water discharge, recreational uses, discharge from farmland and construction
- When first choosing the sampling sites for a water quality monitoring program, consideration of the monitoring objectives is required. For example, if the goal is to find a point along a stream where contamination is occurring, then several points along a river must be tested. However, if a point source of contamination is already known and then a few points downstream of the source could be measured. Once the monitoring objectives have been considered, other information must be researched, such as knowledge of the geography of the water course, the uses of water, and points on the watershed where water is removed or returned to the water course after human uses. It may be necessary to test at several points around a sampling site in order to get a more valid representation of water quality. This is called quality assurance and we will talk more about that in a short while.
- When choosing a sampling station along and across a river, it should be a point where the water is well mixed both vertically and laterally. You would want to avoid pools or dead zones in a river. Where wastewater flows into rivers, complete mixing may not occur until some distance downstream.
- Things that should be considered before sampling are: the sample containers – may be supplied by a the sampling laboratory, contact the laboratory in advance to find out types of sample – depth, time, area or discharge integrated water sampler – specific types of samplers for designated uses ie. dissolved oxygen, depth or multipurpose samplers sampling procedures – guidelines may be available When recording field observations: - need a field notebook, record what samples were taken, what needs to be recorded on the container, what measurements were made, how they were made and the results, weather and any unusual conditions at the site. Such conditions as the ambient air temperature, the weather, the presence of dead fish floating in the water or of oil slicks, growth of algae, vegetation or any unusual sights or smells should be noted, no matter how trivial they may seem at the time. Readings from water quality testing equipment could also be useful at the site where a sample was taken, such as pH, conductivity, temperature and visibility.
- sampling procedures: seek specific procedures for equipment being used check for standard operating procedures measure sampling depth from the surface to the middle of the sampler avoid touching or disturbing the bottom of the water body, because this will cause particles to become suspended
- Be sure to correctly preserve the sample – generally a clean, chilled and dark environment, check with the laboratory for the maximum amount of time that the sample can be kept for before the laboratory analysis becomes invalid Organize the transportation of samples and coordinate drop-off time with laboratory to ensure a short enough time between collection and analysis.
- When designing a monitoring plan, care should be taken to ensure the quality of the data collected and of the monitoring program in general. Two faucets of quality are quality assurance and quality control. Quality assurance is the broad plan for maintaining quality in all aspects of a program. While quality control procedures are to the routine technical activities that help you minimize errors. They help you discover a problem quickly, allowing timely action to be taken to remedy problems. They also offer confirmation that you are doing your work correctly.
- Quality assurance guides the selection of parameters and methods, how data will be managed, analyzed and reported, and what steps will be used to determine validity of the selected procedures. The organization and planning of the program is part of quality
- Quality assurance guides the selection of parameters and methods, how data will be managed, analyzed and reported, and what steps will be used to determine validity of the selected procedures. The organization and planning of the program is part of quality
- Quality assurance guides the selection of parameters and methods, how data will be managed, analyzed and reported, and what steps will be used to determine validity of the selected procedures. The organization and planning of the program is part of quality
- Precision: How closely repeated measurements of the same characteristic agree. You determine precision by calculating the difference between samples taken from the same place at the same time. Minimizing human error plays an important part in assuring precision. Accuracy: How close your results are to a true or expected value. You determine accuracy by comparing your analysis of a known standard or reference sample to its actual value.
- Representativeness: How closely samples represent the true environmental condition or population at the time a sample was collected. Completeness: Whether you collect enough valid, or usable, data (compare what you originally planned to collect with how much you actually collected). For example, if 100 samples were to be collected, but only 90 were actually collected, then 90% completeness is documented. Comparability: How data compares between sample locations or periods of time within a project, or between volunteers.
- Quality assurance guides the selection of parameters and methods, how data will be managed, analyzed and reported, and what steps will be used to determine validity of the selected procedures. The organization and planning of the program is part of quality
- Quality assurance guides the selection of parameters and methods, how data will be managed, analyzed and reported, and what steps will be used to determine validity of the selected procedures. The organization and planning of the program is part of quality
- Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment published the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines which includes guidelines for: the protection of freshwater life agricultural water uses for irrigation and livestock recreational water quality and aesthetics industrial water supplies marine water quality marine and freshwater sediment quality
- Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment published the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines which includes guidelines for: the protection of freshwater life agricultural water uses for irrigation and livestock recreational water quality and aesthetics industrial water supplies marine water quality marine and freshwater sediment quality
- As we discussed the in the sample program design, the watershed under consideration may be protected under provincial legislation. This legislation would impose restrictions on activities of the watershed. If the name of the watershed is known, it should be possible to search the name of watershed on Google to find a copy of the act online, otherwise it is possible to contact the government to get a copy of the act.
- As we discussed the in the sample program design, the watershed under consideration may be protected under provincial legislation. This legislation would impose restrictions on activities of the watershed. If the name of the watershed is known, it should be possible to search the name of watershed on Google to find a copy of the act online, otherwise it is possible to contact the government to get a copy of the act.
- Canadian Federal Government published the Metal Mining Liquid Effluent Regulations and Guidelines includes maximum levels for harmful substances These guidelines do not specify the maximum levels that should be found in the receiving water body, but the maximum levels that can be found in the effluent just before it reaches the water body.
- Here is a list of water testing laboratories in Nova Scotia:
- Here is a list of things parameters that the QEII can test for. TKN is Total Kjeldhal Nitrogen: sum of organic nitrogen, ammonia (NH3), and ammonium (NH4) Total Coliforms and E.coli may be necessary in locating a septic tank leak… Arsenic…