Water Quality

Color
water is
in fact not colorless; even pure water is not colorless, but has a slight blue
tint to it, best seen when looking through a long column of water.

D.O.
Another common measurement often
taken is dissolved oxygen (DO), which is a measure of how much oxygen is
dissolved in the water - DO can tell us a lot about water quality.

pH
Not only does the pH of a stream affect organisms living in the water,
a changing pH in a stream can be an indicator of increasing pollution or some
other environmental factor

Turbidity
Turbidity is the measure of relative clarity of a liquid. It is an optical
characteristic of water and is an expression of the amount of light that is
scattered by material in the water when a light is shined through the water

Sediment
You can find sediment if you are looking at a river or stream.

Hardness
The amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in water determines the hardness.

Temperature
The temperature exerts a major

influence on biological activity

and growth.

Sources

• http://www.factmonster.com/cig/chemistry/ph-scale.html
• http://aliciachappell.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/9/3/30930779/water-quality-inf...
• http://worldoceanreview.com/en/wor-1/ocean-chemistry/oxygen/