After the organisms have been selected, the appropriate collection technique must be applied. Finally, once the samples have been collected, identified, and counted, the data must be interpreted. These steps are described in more detail in the following tables. Paired Basin Two basins with similar features are compared to determine differences in water quality that result from differences in land use. Good for comparison purposes.
Quality of water entering at a site is evaluated to downstream establish a known baseline condition.
Changes in water quality that are the result of the test site can be distinguished. All of the inputs must be considered before inferring a cause and effect. Trend Trend analysis is used to determine changes in water quality analysis over time as a result of changing management practices. For example, implementing conservation practices or improving a waste-treatment facility should improve water quality over time. Provides an opportunity to see and quantify improvements in water quality because of changes in operating procedures.