Aquatic Pollution and Coastal Management

Unit 1 : Classification of aquatic pollution

1.5.Measurement of water quality
There is no single or simple measure of water quality. Scientists have therefore developed specialized approaches to measure quality. Water quality is measured by a set of indicators, these are a group of parameters that can be used to assess environmental condition in a water body which are then compared to a set of standards/criteria. Water quality measurements fall into three broad categories.

• Physical characteristics: Temperature, colour and odour, suspended solids and turbidity.
• Chemical characteristics: Dissolved oxygen, Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, nutrients, pH, minerals, metals and organic compound.
• Biological characteristics: Types and quantities of aquatic organisms (bacteria, algae, plankton – species richness, composition, primary production, feacal coliforms)