| Level 1: Education and Awareness |
ID #1 |
This level provides an introduction to water quality monitoring.
Audience: Groups or individual who have no previous experience or who have had previous trainings but would like a refresher. Community groups, educators, school groups, or individuals will benefit from a level one training.
Training Specifics: The training will consist of 2-4 hours of classroom time and 4-6 hours of field training depending on the needs of your group. Monitors are encouraged to enter their data into Public Folders on the Volunteer Monitoring database repository two times per year. |
| Level 2: Continuous Record |
ID #2 |
This level provides a more advanced training than level one, but is appropriate for first time volunteers who are interested in water monitoring.
Audience: Appropriate for community and school groups with some experience in water quality monitoring. Level two groups collect data that will be used for identifying long term trends or continuous record, educating local decision makers, or for a long term classroom project,. The water quality monitoring techniques are more advanced or may include additional parameters to level one. Level one training is not required to participate in level two training.
Quality Assurance for Level 2: Level two groups will receive and introduction to Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) processes and will be encouraged to follow basic QA/QC processes. MTWC and MSU Extension WQ will be available for assistance with QA/QC.
Training Specifics: The training will consist of 4-6 hours of classroom time and 4-8 hours of field training depending on the needs of your group. Monitors are encouraged to enter their data into Public Folders on the Volunteer Monitoring database repository two times per year. |
| Level 3: Volunteer Certification/Problem Investigation |
ID #3 |
This training provides advanced level problem investigation training. When participants complete required training and proficiency tests, they will receive an official certification letter and certificate and have a set support system for field assistance, data interpretation and analysis, and data entry.
Quality Assurance for Level 3: Level three groups will be trained and tested on QA/QA processes and must use the standard VM Quality Assurance Project Plan and sampling analysis plan, (QAPP & SAP, provided by Montana Watercourse).
Training Specifics: Training will consist of 6-8 hours of classroom and 6-8 hours of field time. Monitors must enter their data in this Volunteer Monitoring Database. |
| Dissolved Oxygen |
ID #4 |
Dissolved oxygen (DO) simply means oxygen dissolved in water.All aquatic organisms rely on DO to function, thus monitoring its levels is important. Fast-flowing, cold, mountain streams generally have high concentrations of dissolved oxygen. When dissolved oxygen concentrations drop to very low levels due to higher temperatures and slower moving water, such as in swamps or bogs, the community of organisms will be made up of those species which can tolerate low dissolved oxygen levels.
Since values are temperature-dependent, it is best to look at % saturation to determine if oxygen levels are adequate. |
| Temperature, Water |
ID #5 |
Temperature refers to the warmness or coldness of water. Cool water can hold more oxygen than warm water, because gases like oxygen are more easily dissolved in cool water.Temperature varies seasonally and throughout the day so sampling atthe same time and season each year is important for consistency.
Most warm water aquatic systems cannot thrive at temperatures much above 80-85 degrees F (27-29 degrees C) for extended periods. Cold water fisheries have very sensitive fauna and flora that cannot thrive much above 60-65 degrees F (15-19 degrees C). |
| Saturation Oxygen (%) |
ID #6 |
Saturation is the maximum level of dissolved oxygen that would be present in the water at a specific temperature in the absence of other influences. Rivers with a 90-100 percent dissolved oxygen saturation value have high dissolved oxygen saturation. Rivers below 90 percent saturation may have large amounts of oxygen-demanding materials (organic wastes).
Since the solubility of oxygen is directly related to temperature, it is useful to express the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) as a percent (%) of the maximum the water could hold.
Values of percent saturation of oxygen generally fall between 80% and 120%. Anything above or below that range is cause for concern. |
| pH |
ID #7 |
Water (H2O) contains both hydrogen (H+) ions and hydroxyl (OH-) ions. The pH test measures the H+ ion concentration of liquids and substances. Each measured liquid or substance is given a pH value on a scale that ranges from 0 to 14. If the sample being measured has more H+ than OH- ions, it is considered acidic and has a pH less than 7. If the sample contains more OH- ions, it is considered basic (alkaline) with a pH greater than 7. Pure, deionized water contains equal numbers of H+ and OH- ions and is considered neutral (pH 7), neither acidic nor basic. Although some streams are naturally acidic, anything below 6 or above 8.5 is not considered typical.
pH is measured in pH standard units (s.u.) on a logarithmic scale. A logarithmic scale
equates every one-unit change on the pH scale to approximately a ten-fold change in
how acidic or basic the sample is.
|
| Alkalinity |
ID #8 |
Alkalinity is a measure of the capacity of water to neutralize acids. Alkalinity of water is due primarily to the presence of bicarbonate,carbonate, and hydroxide ions.
Any stream with less than 20 mg/l (ppm) of alkalinity has little buffering capacity and is at risk for impact from acidic deposition.
|
| Nitrates |
ID #9 |
Nitrogen can be found in water in several different combinations with oxygen. The ones that are important measurements of water quality and stream health are ammonia (NH3), nitrite (NO2-), and nitrate (NO3-).
Typical values in non-impacted streams are below 1 mg/L. |
| Orthophosphates |
ID #10 |
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants and animals, but in excess allows algal blooms that decrease dissolved oxygen levels. Phosphates exist in three forms: orthophosphate, metaphosphate (or polyphosphate) and organically bound phosphate. Orthophosphate forms are produced by natural processes, but major man-influenced sources include: partially treated and untreated sewage, runoff from agricultural sites, and application of some lawn fertilizers. Phosphorus is the major limiting element in water for algal growth.In standing waters where phosphorus accumulates, algal blooms proliferate and reduce the concentrations of dissolved oxygen. As oxygen concentrations decrease, less desirable organisms flourish.
Typical values in non-impacted streams are below 0.01 mg/L (ppm). Levels of greater than 0.1 mg/L are cause for concern.
|
| Turbidity |
ID #11 |
Turbidity is the cloudy appearance of water. Technically, turbidity is an optical property based on light scattered by the water. Dissolved chemicals, organic materials, sediment, and suspended particles in water can cause light to be scattered, reflected, or absorbed, thereby decreasing the transparency and the clarity of water. The more material suspended in the water, the lower the transparency. Conversely, the more material suspended in water, the higher the turbidity. Both transparency and turbidity can be quickly measured by a transparency or turbidity tube. Transparency is measured in centimeters and turbidity is measured in NTUs Nephelometric Turbidity Units).
Turbidity values of greater than 50 NTUs are considered turbid. A 10–day average of greater than 10 NTUs is problematic for trout waters and greater than 25 NTUs for non-trout waters.
|
| Temperature, Air |
ID #12 |
| Ambient air temperature. |
| Specific Conductance |
ID #13 |
| Specific conductance is a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current. It is highly dependent on the amount of dissolved solids (such as salt) in the water. Pure water, such as distilled water, will have a very low specific conductance, and sea water will have a high specific conductance. |
| Saturation Oxygen, (mg/L) |
ID #14 |
Dissolved oxygen (DO) simply means oxygen dissolved in water. All aquatic organisms rely on DO to function, thus monitoring its levels is important. Fast-flowing, cold, mountain streams generally have high concentrations of dissolved oxygen. When dissolved oxygen concentrations drop to very low levels due to higher temperatures and slower moving water, such as in swamps or bogs, the community of organisms will be made up of those species which can tolerate low dissolved oxygen levels.
Since values are temperature-dependent, it is best to look at % saturation to determine if oxygen levels are adequate. |
| Flow |
ID #15 |
| Stream flow, or discharge, is the rate at which a volume of water passes through a cross section per unit of time. In the United States, it is usually expressed in cubic feet per second (ft3/sec) and commonly referred to as CFS. Discharge is an important component of the aquatic environment because it helps determine riparian and streambed habitats, temperature, the interaction between surface and ground water, species diversity, and the concentration of various chemical substances in water. |
| Units Conversion |
ID #16 |
Convert air or water temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit: °F = 1.8 (°C) + 32
Specific Conductance Measurements: 1 µS/cm = 0.001 mS/cm = 0.000001 S/cm = 1 µmho/cm
Alkalinity: 1.0 meq/l = 2.8 dKH = 50 ppm CaCO3.
Dissolved Oxygen: To convert % Dissolved Oxygen to mg/l – multiply % by 1.33 to get mg/l.
1 cfs (Cubic Foot/Second) = 0.0283m3
28.32 L/s
2447 m3/day
|
| Total Dissolved Solids |
ID #17 |
| Total Dissolved Solids (often abbreviated TDS) is a measure of the combined content of all inorganic and organic substances contained in water. TDS is measured by conductivity. Generally the operational definition is that the solids must be small enough to survive filtration through a sieve the size of two micrometer. |
| E. coli Concentration |
ID #18 |
| Escherichia coli is a bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some, can cause serious food poisoning in humans. |
| Total Phosphorus as P |
ID #19 |
Total phosphorus is a measure of all the various forms of phosphorus that are found in a water sample. Phosphates exist in three forms: orthophosphate, metaphosphate (or polyphosphate) and organically bound phosphate. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants and animals, but in excess allows algal blooms that decrease dissolved oxygen levels. Phosphorus is the major limiting element in water for algal growth.In standing waters where phosphorus accumulates, algal blooms proliferate and reduce the concentrations of dissolved oxygen. As oxygen concentrations decrease, less desirable organisms flourish.
Typical values in non-impacted streams are below 0.01 mg/L (ppm). Levels of greater than 0.1 mg/L are cause for concern.
|
| Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen at N |
ID #20 |
| There are three forms of nitrogen that are commonly measured in water bodies: ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. Total nitrogen is the sum of total kjeldahl nitrogen (organic and reduced nitrogen), ammonia, and nitrate-nitrite. |
