Indicators and Water Quality
Science
pH Scale
http://extension.usu.edu/waterquality/htm/whats-in-your-water/ph
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The pH scale is a scale of 1 through 14 to see how acidic or non-acidic something is.
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A ramification of the pH Scale is that, for aquatic organisms, if the waters acidity dips below 4.0, all of the fish currently living there easily die, including eggs. The same also happens if the acidity of the water is very low, with about 9.6 also killing all fish. Another ramification of the pH Scale is how many things can influence it, like acid rain, or just the changing of the season.Dissolved Oxygen
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Dissolved oxygen is the amount of oxygen in gas form dissolved into an aquatic solution.
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A ramification is that the amount of dissolved oxygen should never increase to, or above, 110 percent, as then aquatic life is in danger of dying. Aquatic life living in this situation can end up suffering from gas bubble disease, though this is rare. Another ramification is that if oxygen levels stay under 1-2mg/l for just a handful of hours, large amounts of fish could die.
Turbidity
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Turbidity is a measure of a body of waters clarity, which is how clear or unclear it is.
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Turbid bodies of water have lower bottom temperatures than clear bodies of water, as a result, this decreases productivity. Another ramification is that turbidity interferes with the penetration of light, therefore decreasing photosynthesis and production of fish food organisms and fish production in general.
Nitrates
Temperature
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Temperature is how warm or cold a body of water is.
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A ramification of temperature is thermal pollution, which is the flow of much warmer water than the body of water that it flows into, and this usually happens at and around power plants.