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Water Quality Tests in the Potomac Basin
Tests are from the WV Department of Agriculture. Tests and locations have varied over time. There are three separate files of data:
Water samples from the Potomac's South Branch and its tributaries.
These two files have the same format and can be combined. They were too large
to post on this website
Click to download
readings from January 2000 to March 2003 (731 kilobytes of .zip format,
expands to 3 megabytes of .xls format; 7,381 tests)
Click to download
readings from January 1998 to December 1999 (341 kilobytes of .zip format,
expands to 1 megabyte of .xls format; 4,605 tests). Readings from Jan-June 1998
were for training. They are included, but are not official.
North Branch, its tributaries, and direct tributaries of the Potomac, click to download readings from 10/99 to 3/03 (367 kilobytes in .xls format; 661 tests)
Helpful explanations of the issues are in a study, done with other data by Cacapon Institute for the US Fish and Wildlife Service
|
Item |
WV Standard |
Units |
|
pH, measured by meter (acidity: 0-7 acid; 7-14 alkaline) |
6-9 |
|
|
Temperature |
a long standard; like Turbidity in that it mostly regulates temperature rises rather than ambient temperatures |
degrees Celsius |
|
Conductivity |
none |
|
|
Alkalinity |
see pH |
|
|
Hardness |
|
|
|
Sulfate |
|
|
|
Total suspended solids (TSS) |
No distinctly visible floating or settleable solids, suspended solids…; no distinctly visible color; also see Turbidity |
milligrams/Liter? |
|
Dissolved solids |
|
|
|
milligrams/Liter? |
|
|
|
Total solids |
|
|
|
milligrams/Liter? |
|
|
|
Fecal coliform bacteria |
|
colonies per 100 milliliters? |
|
Total Phosphorus |
none. Being developed; won't have one for several years |
milligrams of Phosphorus per Liter |
|
Ortho Phosphorus |
|
|
|
milligrams of Phosphorus per Liter |
|
|
|
Ammonia |
standard for un-ionized ammonia based on a formula that accounts for pH and temperature. |
mg of Nitrogen per Liter |
|
Turbidity (dispersion of light) |
source can't raise stream more than 10 NTU, except on streams over 50 NTU, can't raise more than 10 NTU+10% |
NTU: Nephelometric Turbidity Units (10 is nearly clear, 50 is noticeably muddy, 500 is extremely muddy. Often TSS units are 3 times NTU or less, but NTU is raised by algae as well as solids) |
|
Calcium |
|
|
|
Nitrate, NO3 |
10 mg/L human health |
milligrams of Nitrogen per Liter |
|
NO2 |
|
milligrams of Nitrogen per Liter |
|
N_2_N_3 |
|
milligrams of Nitrogen per Liter |
|
Dissolved Oxygen |
|
|
The example below is from the first file:
|
Site number |
Site description |
Date when water was sampled |
Time when water was sampled |
pH (acidity: 0-7 acid; 7-14 alkaline) |
Temperature |
Conductivity |
Total_P |
Ammonia_N |
N_3_N |
Date/time Sequence (use for sorting) |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
11-Apr-03 |
1131 |
8 |
6.6 |
81.7 |
0.04 |
0.243 |
0.3 |
12051 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
20-Mar-03 |
112 (typo?) |
8.2 |
7.9 |
109.3 |
0.0097 |
0.022 |
1.1 |
11925 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
11-Feb-03 |
1237 |
8.5 |
3 |
200 |
0.0065 |
0.008 |
1.2 |
11654 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
10-Jan-03 |
1218 |
8.2 |
5 |
119.8 |
0.0065 |
0.079 |
1.1 |
11440 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
22-Nov-02 |
1219 |
8.3 |
7.8 |
128.3 |
No Test |
0.089 |
0.1 |
11154 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
18-Oct-02 |
1143 |
8.2 |
11.6 |
128.9 |
0.0097 |
0.127 |
0.8 |
10912 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
13-Sep-02 |
1135 |
8.1 |
18.8 |
266 |
0.0065 |
0.045 |
0.2 |
10645 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
27-Aug-02 |
1203 |
7.8 |
22.4 |
230 |
0.0097 |
0.027 |
0.2 |
10523 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
19-Jun-02 |
No Meters |
|
|
|
0.0065 |
0.04 |
0.6 |
10131 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
19-Jun-02 |
1126 |
No Meters |
|
|
0.0065 |
0.067 |
0.3 |
10120 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
17-May-02 |
1240 |
7.9 |
17.4 |
165.2 |
0 |
0.63 |
1 |
09895 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
24-Apr-02 |
1141 |
No Meters |
|
|
0.0097 |
0.234 |
1 |
09753 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
29-Mar-02 |
1229 |
8.4 |
12 |
142.7 |
0.0032 |
0.184 |
0.6 |
09556 |
|
SF-SF9 |
SF@Co. Line |
22-Feb-02 |
1144 |
8.1 |
7.6 |
227 |
0 |
0.213 |
0.2 |
09309 |