A Citizen's Guide to Understanding and Monitoring Lakes and StreamsChapter 3 - StreamsStream Water Quality ParametersThis section discusses the water quality parameters volunteers frequently test: temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, nutrients, total suspended solids and turbidity, and fecal coliform bacteria. For each parameter you’ll learn why it’s important, why measured values differ from one time to another, and how pollution could affect the measurement. Most of the parameters described are related to each other and the relationship is described in the section on each of the parameters. For example, there is a relationship between temperature and dissolved oxygen. This relationship is described in both the discussion on temperature and the discussion on dissolved oxygen. If you find it difficult to understand the discussion under one parameter, move on to the next; with luck you will find the next discussion helps to clarify the first. Chapter Four describes the different methods for analysis for each of these parameters.
The next section discusses temperature in streams. Return to Table of
Contents | Lakes | Streams | From the Field to the Lab | Hydrology Last updated on April 01, 2008 |