# Presentation: 631665

## Year of Clean Water:National Water Monitoring Day

*Water Testing Kits*

## National Water Monitoring Day

*Select a water body in your area that you want to test where there is easy and safe access to the water.*
*Register the water body ahead of time at the Year of Clean Water website:**	**	*_*[http://www.yearofcleanwater.org](http://www.yearofcleanwater.org/)*_
*Gather volunteers for the event.*
*After your event, enter your data at the Year of Clean Water website.*

## Water Monitoring Day Data

*The primary purpose of Water Monitoring Day is education:  to increase people’s awareness of local water features and of water quality issues.*
*Data from this two-week event will be used by EPA as a “snapshot” of the nation’s water quality.*

## Water Monitoring Day Data

*The parameters measured with the kits are only a few of the many measures scientists use to evaluate aquatic ecosystems.*
*Some other important environmental parameters are:  nitrogen, phosphorus, metals, water color, conductivity, chlorophyll-*a*, and dissolved organic carbon.*

## Water Monitoring Day Data

*The test kit used for this event is a screening tool and is not an approved method for sample collection in the FDEP Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).*
*Scientists use more sensitive instruments and methods to measure the parameters measured with this kit.*
*The data collected will not be used by FDEP for regulation or monitoring.*

## About Your Test Kit

*	**Your National Water Monitoring Day test kit includes materials to test water for pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and turbidity.  These parameters can give you important information about a water body.*

## About Your Test Kit

*Read the instructions included with the kit carefully.*
*In addition to the kit, you will also need:*
*protective gloves for each person helping with sample collection and/or testing,*
*watch/stopwatch to time tests,*
*pen and paper to record field notes and results,*
*waste container/bucket, and*
*any other relevant field safety equipment (e.g., sunscreen, bug spray, first-aid kit).*

## About Your Test Kit

*Before you begin, place the thermometer stickers on the outside of the white sample container, near the bottom.*
*Place the “Secchi Disk” sticker on the bottom of the inside of the container, off-center.*
*Note the location of the “fill line.”*

## Collecting a Water Sample

*A sample is a smaller piece of a whole, a representation.*
*Select a sampling location and device so that your water sample will represent the whole water body.*
*Your sampling device will probably be the white container included with the kit.*

## Collecting a Water Sample

*Follow the directions included with your kit to collect water.*
*Fill the container very slowly; make sure the water does not splash or “bubble” into the container.*
*Fill to above the turbidity fill line so you can use water for other tests first.*
*Record your test results on a field sheet or in a notebook as you complete each test.*

## Temperature

*Temperature directly affects the rates of chemical reactions in water and within living things in the water.*
*Temperature determines the solubility of oxygen in water.*
*Extreme water temperatures can have toxic effects on aquatic plants and animals.*
*Follow the instructions included with your test kit to measure water temperature at your field site; record the result.*

## Dissolved Oxygen

*Animals need oxygen to survive.*
*Many aquatic animals such as fish and dragonfly larvae breath oxygen dissolved in the water.*
*Groundwater is naturally lower in dissolved oxygen (DO) than surface water; therefore, spring water may have low DO levels.*
*Too much organic matter in a water body will decrease the DO when it decomposes.*

## Dissolved Oxygen

*Follow the instructions included with your test kit to measure dissolved oxygen (DO) at your field site; the smaller vial is for the DO test.*
*Take care to not let the water bubble as it flows into the DO testing vial.*
*Use two tablets from a foil pack labeled “DO.”*
*Hold the full vial over your waste container when you add the tablets and the cap.*
*After the tablets dissolve, set the vial in the shade while you wait; the sun and your hands can change the water temperature quickly.*
*Record the result.*

## pH

*pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions (acidity) in the water.*
*A pH of 7 is neutral.*
*Lower pH values (0-6) indicate acidic conditions, and higher pH values (8-14) indicate basic, or alkaline, conditions.*
*Dark-water systems are naturally more acidic; spring-water systems are naturally more alkaline.*

## pH

*Follow the instructions included with your test kit to measure pH at your field site; the larger vial is for the pH test.*
*Use one tablet from a foil pack labeled “pH.”*
*Record the result.*

## Turbidity

*Light availability in water is a very important aspect of aquatic ecosystems.*
*Plants and phytoplankton need light for the process of photosynthesis.*
*Too many suspended solids in the water can interfere with animals’ respiration.*
*“**JTU” stands for “Jackson Turbidity Units.”*
*The range of the JTU scale is 0-10.*
*8-10 JTU indicates high turbidity that has the potential to be ecologically harmful.*
*The method used in the test kit is actually a measure of light penetration into water, not true turbidity.  DEP measures NTUs or Nephelometric Turbidity Units.*

## Turbidity

*Follow the instructions for turbidity in your test kit to measure light penetration at your field site.*
*Remember to hold the comparison card against the top of the container when you are determining the result.*
*Record the result.*

## Other Tips...

*Items to record at your field site include:*
*name of each person present,*
*name of the water body,*
*description of the field site and weather conditions,*
*type of test kit or meter used, and*
*the result of each test.*
*Pour waste into your waste container.*
*Dispose of waste in a sink with a lot of tap water.*
*Rinse containers and vials with tap water.*
*Allow materials to dry before you store them.*

## THANK YOU

*Thank you for participating in National Water Monitoring Day in celebration of the Year of Clean Water!*
*Don’t forget to enter your results at the Year of Clean Water website:*
_*[http://www.yearofcleanwater.org](http://www.yearofcleanwater.org/)*_
*For more information, please visit the FDEP website:*
_*[http://www.floridadep.org](http://www.floridadep.org/)*_

## This presentation was produced by
Amy Wheeler and Shannon Gerardi,
FDEP Environmental Assessment Section.

*Amy Wheeler and Shannon Gerardi,*
*FDEP Environmental Assessment Section.*