Water quality
Videos
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which
Regional and national contamination of drinking water by chemical type and population size at risk of exposure
Sign in Sandymount, Ireland, describing water quality, giving levels of faecal coliform E. coli and Enterococcus faecalis
Urban runoff discharging to coastal waters
An automated sampling station installed along the East Branch Milwaukee River, New Fane, Wisconsin. The cover of the 24-bottle autosampler (center) is partially raised, showing the sample bottles inside. The autosampler collects samples at time intervals, or proportionate to flow over a specified period. The data logger (white cabinet) records temperature, specific conductance, and dissolved oxygen levels.
Bioindicator
Videos
A bioindicator is any species or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example
Caddisfly (order Trichoptera), a macroinvertebrate used as an indicator of water quality.
The lichen Lobaria pulmonaria is sensitive to air pollution.
Populations of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) are especially susceptible to the West Nile Virus, and can be used as a bioindicator species for the disease's presence in an area.