ENVR 150 1-1 Intro Common Water Testing Procedures PDF

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND GEOMATICS ENVR 150 Overview  Introduction & Review (5 min)  Earth as a System (20 min)  Common water testing procedures (70 min)  Precision and Accuracy (5 min) Global Hydrologic Cycle Model Christopherson, Geosystems ...

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND GEOMATICS ENVR 150 Overview  Introduction & Review (5 min)  Earth as a System (20 min)  Common water testing procedures (70 min)  Precision and Accuracy (5 min) Global Hydrologic Cycle Model Christopherson, Geosystems Hurricane Lee 2023 Every tropical ocean had a Category 5 storm Image Credit: BING BC Wildfires West Kelowna Wildfire, Okanagan, 189 structures lost McDougall Creek Wildfire, Shushwap, 131 structures lost  Local Hydrological Cycle Drought stress in Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) Water Pathways Fast Route Medium Route Slow Route Rain Rain Rain ↓ ↓ ↓ Overland Flow Infiltrates Soil Infiltrates Soil ↓ ↓ ↓ Stream Channel Throughflow in Soil Percolates Rock ↓ ↓ ↓ Flows into Sea Flows into Sea Flows out of Spring ↓ Into Stream Channel ↓ Flows into Sea   Predicting Hydrological Cycle Water Balance Equation http://waterbucket.ca/ Charles Thorwaite 1899-1963 Figure 9.4  Precipitation in North America Figure 9.6  Potential Evapotranspiration Figure 9.8 Sample Water Budget Systems Theory  System  Any ordered, interrelated set of things and their attributes, linked by flows of energy and matter  Distinct from the surrounding environment  Open System  Energy and matter enter and leave  Closed System  Energy enters, matter is constant Systems Systems  Dynamic Equilibrium  A system in a steady state fluctuating around an average  http://front.moveon.org/is-there-anything-more- beautiful-than-this/#.UiIGCn-592A (0-30 sec)  Negative Feedback Loop  Discourages a response –system corrects  Positive Feedback  Encourages a response –system continues Arctic Sea Ice NASA April 24, 2022 NASA, Earth Observatory Lake Powell, California was in drought since 2019 May 7, 2024 NASA, Earth Observatory  40% of global citizens get drinking water from glacial melt water. Himilayas Aral Sea Aral Sea – Degree of Change http://earthobserv atory.nasa.gov/Fea tures/WorldOfCha nge/aral_sea.php  Water Measurements  What do we want to know about water?  How do we measure it? Lentic Lotic Water Temperature  Indicator of overall water quality  Temps outside normal range can cause harm to aquatic organisms  Impacts the hydrological cycle Water Temperature Factors that affect temp Impacts  Air temp  Temp↑=↓Dissolved O2  Water depth  Rate of plant growth  Shade  Algal blooms  Tributaries  Metabolic rate of  Turbidity organisms  Thermal pollution  Resistance of organisms to disease pH  Relative concentration of hydrogen ions H+ and hydroxide ions OH-  pH of 7 has equal concentrations of both – neutral 0 7 14 Acidic Neutral Basic pH Factors that affect pH  Acid rainfall  Algal blooms  Level of hard water minerals  Discharge from industry  Carbonic acid from respiration or decomposition  Oxidation of sulphides -acidic Turbidity Lack of clarity  High turbidity – cloudy  Low turbidity – clear  Measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units NTU  Infrared light is scattered off particles in a sample  Surface water is usually between 1 NTU and 50 NTU  Drinking water is 0.5 NTU to 1.0  World Health Org. not more than 5 Confluence of the S. Thompson and Fraser Rivers at Lytton. S. Thompson has dropped its sediment load in Kamloops Lake. The Fraser River is much dirtier Turbidity Sources Effects  Soil erosion  Reduces clarity  Urban runoff  Aesthetically displeasing  Industrial waste  Decreases  Abundant bottom photosynthetic rate dwellers  Increases water  Organics temperature  Loss of spawning habitat Total Solids  Measure of all suspended, colloidal and dissolved solids  Important aspect of water quality  Measured as mg/L  20-500 mg/L is typical  Water is evaporated using a drying oven and beaker is weighed Total Dissolved Solids – Conductivity Conductivity Sources  Ability of dissolved  Hard water ions solids (salts) to conduct  Fertilizer an electrical current  Urban runoff  Interested in change in  Salinity conductivity as an  Acid rain indicator of stream Conductivity Units MicroSiemens per centimeter health (µs/cm) or (mS/cm) millimhos per centimeter (mmho/cm) TDS Units Ranges is 50-250 mg/l Specific Conductance – water temp is corrected to 25° C Dissolved Oxygen Factors that affect DO Measurements  Temperature  Stir DO probe  Aquatic plant pops  mg/L is the quantity of O2 in one litre  Decaying organics  Temp and air pressure  Turbulence affect DO so it can be  Altitude/pressure better to give as a %  Human activities Dissolved Oxygen Dissolved Oxygen Supersaturation  Dissolved Gas bubble Supersaturation (DGS) (primarily nitrogen)  Maximum is 110% Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD  Difference between use of O2 (decomposing organics) and incoming dissolved oxygen  90% high BOD  E.g. Sewage treatment plant  10-20% low BOD  E.g. Mountain stream Macro Benthic Invertebrates (visible with the eye) (bottom dwelling) (no vertebrate)  Useful indicators of the health or condition of a body of water. Discharge  Discharge is the volume of water that moves through a specific point in a stream during a given period of time.  Discharge = Area x Velocity  Q=AxV  m3/sec=m2 x m/s Measurement Considerations  Accuracy  Degree of closeness of measurements to that quantity’s true value  Precision  Reproducibility or repeatability of a measurement  Methodology  Do you need baseline data or longitudinal data?  Location of data collection sites and reference sites