Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment D Chapman PDF

Water quality monitoring and
assessment: general principles
and “fitness for purpose”
Deborah V Chapman
GEMS/Water Capacity development Centre
University College Cork
Deborah V. Chapman
GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre
University College Cork, Ireland
Considerations
• Purpose of monitoring and assessment
• What do we expect to achieve from the
monitoring?
• How can we make sure we meet our
expectations?
• What can we do to help generate monitoring
data that is fit for purpose?
Deborah V. Chapman
Definitions
Monitoring is the systematic collection of data over
temporal or spatial scales in order to define:
– Current environmental conditions/status
– Trends
Assessment is the overall process of evaluation of the
physical, chemical and biological nature of the
environment in relation to natural quality, human
impacts and intended uses
– Includes the use of monitoring data (practical, desk‐based
or on‐line data collection)
– Includes interpretation of the data
– Aims to define environmental conditions, detect trends,
establish cause‐effect relationships
Deborah V. Chapman
Purpose of monitoring
A. Provides data to aid management of
water resources
– Conservation and protection
– Availability and suitability for specific uses
– Optimising treatment processes
– Determining impacts on water quantity and
quality
– Determining impacts on aquatic ecosystems
and ecosystem services
– Modelling impacts on future resources
Deborah V. Chapman
Purpose of monitoring
B. Provides information for development
and implementation of water policies and
their effectiveness
– Determining efficiency of treatments, controls,
use restrictions
– Preparation and implementation of
Conventions, Directives, Regulations
– Setting of taxes and charges, i.e., pricing
– Sharing information for regional and global
policy
Deborah V. Chapman
Good assessment and interpretation
depends on:
• Water quality data
– Reliable and comparable (quality assurance)
– At appropriate spatial and/or temporal
scales
• Related hydrological information
• Targets, indicators or background
information
Deborah V. Chapman
Objectives are fundamental to a
monitoring programme
• The objectives must be realistic in relation to
the resources (human, technical and financial)
available
• Well‐defined objectives:
– lead to more focused and cost‐effective
monitoring
– inform the design of the monitoring programme
Deborah V. Chapman
Objectives inform monitoring
programme design
Objectives must:
• Specify clearly the questions that need to
be answered, and
• Identify the anticipated information to be
gained from the monitoring programme
Examples:
To determine long‐term trends in fluxes of nutrients to coastal
waters from river basins
To check suitability of reservoir waters for drinking water treatment
Deborah V. Chapman
Design: monitoring variables
General variables Specific variables, e.g.
How many variables Temperature Lead
Dissolved oxygen (mg l-1) Mercury
should be included pH
Total dissolved solids (mg l-1)
Total hydrocarbons
Detergents
in the monitoring Total suspended solids (mg l-1)
BOD (mg l-1 O2)
programme? Turbidity (NTU)

Ammonium (mg l-1)
Nitrate as N (mg l-1)
Will a few specific Nitrite (mg l-1)
Total phosphorus (mg l-1)
variables be Sodium (mg l-1)
Chloride (mg l-1)
adequate to meet Chlorine (mg l-1)
Sulphate (mg l-1)
Sulphide (mg l-1)
the objectives? Chlorophyll a (mg l-1)
E. Coli (No per 100 ml)
Deborah V. Chapman
Design: site selection
• Single site, e.g. abstraction point,
point of use, effluent discharge
• Multiples sites, e.g. national
survey, dispersion from point
source
• Multiple stations, e.g. depth
samples in lakes and
groundwater
• Background or “control” sites,
e.g. upstream of discharge point
Deborah V. Chapman
Design: frequency of sampling
• Must take into consideration 60
duration of emission and 50
to ta l C r  g L -1
40
persistence in the environment 30
20
• Must be adequate to show any 10
time related changes in the Jan Mar Apr
Sampling site 1
May Jul
Sampling site 2
Oct
Sampling site 3
Nov Dec
variables being monitored
Dissolved oxygen in bottom water (309m)
• May be defined by guidelines or 12
Dissolved oxygen (mg L-1)

licence conditions 10
8
• Trend monitoring needs regular 6
intervals over long time periods 4
• Surveys require many sites in as 2
short a time period as possible 0
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Years
Deborah V. Chapman
Design: Hydrological information
• Residence time in lakes and
reservoirs
• Discharge in rivers
• Thermal stratification in lakes and
reservoirs
• Saline stratification in estuaries
• Direction of groundwater flow
and piezometric level
Deborah V. Chapman
Design: Sample handling and analysis
• Appropriate sample containers and sample
preservatives (if required)
• Minimal disturbance during sampling and
transportation, e.g. maintain ambient
temperature
• Minimum storage time in appropriate conditions
• Analytical methods that are capable of required
accuracy and level of detection
• Application of good laboratory quality control
procedures
Deborah V. Chapman
Every monitoring programme should
have an associated quality programme
• Minimizes errors in data acquisition but cannot totally
prevent them
• Helps to quantify errors in measurement
• Gives credibility to the data
• Ensures comparability and compatibility between
data collectors
• Quality assurance should be applied at all stages of a
monitoring programme, i.e. field, laboratory and data
management
Approximately 10–20% of the total resources needed for a monitoring
programme should be devoted to quality assurance, i.e. financial,
technical and personnel
Deborah V. Chapman
Credible data
Data that can be believed and defended.
Achieved by:
– Using recognised national or international
standardised methods, e.g. ISO (see www.iso.ch),
APHA, DIN
– Applying quality assurance
– Demonstrating the level of confidence in the
data, e.g. by providing standard deviations or
confidence limits
Deborah V. Chapman
To ensure a valid field sample
Variations in sampling procedures can
have a marked effect on the results of
analysis
• Appropriate location of sampling sites
and stations
• Appropriate sample container
• Correct method of collection
• Appropriate sample
fixation/preservation
• Careful field technique
Deborah V. Chapman
Sources of error in field sampling
• Carryover of analyte from sampling
equipment
• Incomplete decontamination of equipment
between samples/sampling trips
• Cross contamination between samples
• Absorption of volatile chemicals from the
air during transportation and storage
• Poorly maintained and functioning
equipment
• The sampler!
Deborah V. Chapman
Laboratory internal quality control (IQC)
Used for continuous assessment of the quality of
the results of individual analytical procedures
Used to check:
• Precision: the likelihood of the analytical method
giving the same value if the same sample was
analysed more than once. Precision can be
expressed as the standard deviation
• Accuracy: the nearness of the measured
value to the true value
Deborah V. Chapman
Quality control samples
Quality control samples are extra samples taken during
the sampling and analytical process
• Sample blanks used to assess potential contamination
• Field and laboratory instrument blanks used to
determine carry over of contamination from one
sample to the next
• Replicates/duplicates used to determine the sampling
and/or analytical precision
• Spiked samples used to obtain percentage recovery,
and therefore accuracy
Deborah V. Chapman
External quality control
GEMS/Water laboratory performance evaluation
1. The reference laboratory sends out sets of specimens
with known and unknown concentrations of analytes to
all of the participating laboratories
2. Each participant laboratory analyses the specimens for
the specified analytes and reports the results to the
reference laboratory
3. The reference laboratory reports on the performance of
the participating laboratories
Poor performance means that laboratory procedures need to
be checked and deficiencies corrected
Deborah V. Chapman
Reasons why monitoring programmes fail to
provide the expected information for management
• The objectives of the programme were not defined
properly
• The monitoring programme was installed with
insufficient knowledge of the environment to be
sampled
• There was inadequate planning of the sample
collection, handling, storage and analysis
• The information obtained was poorly archived
• The data were not properly or adequately
interpreted and reported
Deborah V. Chapman
Key messages
Successful and useful monitoring depends on:
• Well defined objectives
• Careful selection of appropriate monitoring
regimes
• Collection of related hydrological information
• Credible and defensible data (quality
assurance)
• Assessment and interpretation of the data
• Presentation of the data in meaningful and
understandable formats
Deborah V. Chapman
Strive for quality!
• Errors can be introduced at all stages of
sampling and analysis
• Data are not credible if their quality
cannot be assured
• Quality assurance plans and the
associated procedures help to assure
monitoring data
Deborah V. Chapman

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Water quality monitoring and

programme? Turbidity (NTU)

time related changes in the Jan Mar Apr

Dissolved oxygen (mg L-1)

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