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Water Quality Assessments and Sampling Water quality relates to the purity or naturalness of surface or ground water. Pure water contains only H2O (2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom make a molecule of water), nothing else, such as distilled water. Distilled water is tasteless. However, water flowing in streams and underground contain more than just H2O. Typically, water in streams contain minor amounts of minerals and organic compounds. Groundwater almost always contains minerals, but rarely organic compounds. Water with high levels of minerals is considered "hard". These minerals can give water taste, sometimes a good taste, others a bad taste, depending on the quantity and type of minerals present. The pH of water can greately influence the quality of water. Hard water is usually alkaline, with a high pH. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 0 being extremely acid and 14 being extremely alkaline. Neutral pH is 7, and is a level at which most nutrients are "available" for uptake, such as by plants through their roots. Water is the source of nearly all life on earth, so it is vitally important to maintain water at a high quality. Surface water, such as flowing through streams, standing in ponds and lakes, or circulating in estuaries, lagoons, and the coast, serves several functions, such as described on the page about wetland functions. One of those functions is to provide a source of domestic water for drinking. Another function is to provide habitat for aquatic life. When the quality of the water is decreased by one or more pollutants, the functionality, or use, of that water is decreased, possibly to the point that it is unusable to humans or aquatic life. There are two basic "sources" of pollutants that enter water, surface or ground water, "point source" and "nonpoint source" pollution. Point source pollution represents the definable point at which one or more pollutants actually enters a water body. Nonpoint source pollution cannot be so easily defined, as to a point on the ground; rather, this source is dispersed over a large area, such as a landscape or agricultural field. Point source pollution is generally easy to identify and control. Nonpoint source pollution is difficult to pinpoint, and hard to control. Watershed planning, as discussed elsewhere on this website, is one strategic approach to solving nonpoint source pollution problems from a watershed perspective. The federal and state governments consider the quality of surface and ground water to be so important that several laws have been enacted to protect this resource. The federal Clean Water Act is probably the most important federal law regarding water quality, enacted in 1972. California enacted the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act to protect waters of the state. The Clean Water Act is regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act is administered by the State Water Resources Control Board, a part of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). Water sampling is the practice of collecting samples of water from water bodies, both surface and below ground, with the intent of taking specific measurements of the water, such as its physical and chemical makeup. Usually, water samples are collected and send to a laboratory to test for specific constituents or contaminants. Great care in how water samples are taken and handled is required to avoid contaminating the sample accidentally, rendering any testing results invalid. Some properties and constituents of a water body can be sampled quickly in the field, onsite. Other tests can only be performed reliably in a proper laboratory. David Magney Environmental Consulting (DMEC) has sampled and assessed water quality on a number of levels for a variety of projects. For example, DMEC studied the quality of water flowing in the streams within the City of Ojai. For another project, DMEC analyzed water quality data related to a potential discharge of industrial waste water into a natural water body, specifically identifying potential undesirable contaminants that could prevent the planned discharge. DMEC staff have the expertice and experience to both sample and analyze water quality from a habitat/quality (beneficial use) perspective, and from a contamination detection perspective. DMEC has experience designing and implementing sampling protocols and goals for a variety of projects, from a watershed level to a single water body or discharge point. |
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Mission Statement:
To provide quality environmental consulting
services with integrity that protect and enhance
the human and natural environment.
