Deployment of STORM 3 Data Loggers to Monitor Water Quality

AbstractWithin Pacific Small Island Developing States (Pacific SIDS), the ridge-to-reef (R2R) approach has emerged as a framework for monitoring river connectivity between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The study measured water quality, including pH, over 88.40 km of the Ba River in Fiji. The sampling design focused on measuring spatio-temporal variability in pH throughout the sugarcane season with three rapid sampling periods (RSP1, 2 & 3) along the Ba River, together with continuous measurement of temperature and pH using stationary data loggers at two locations upstream and downstream of the sugar mill. Spatial variability in pH and water quality was characterised before (RSP1 and RSP2) and during (RSP3) the sugarcane season. Mean pH measured before the sugarcane crushing season for RSP1 and RSP2 were 8.16 (± 0.49) and 8.20 (± 0.61) respectively. During the sugarcane crushing season (RSP3), mean pH declined by 3.06 units to 6.94 within 42 m downstream of the sugar mill (P ≤ 0.001). The 3.06 unit decline in pH for RSP3 exceeded both the mean diurnal variation in pH of 0.39 and mean seasonal variation in pH of 2.01. This decline in pH could be a potential source of acidification to downstream coastal ecosystems with implications for coral reefs, biodiversity and fishery livelihoods.

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Transient water quality events in british Columbia coastal streams

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1996.0045 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 151-161 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paul H. Whitfield ◽

Norman L. Wade

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Time Duration ◽

Data Loggers ◽

Small Streams ◽

Coastal Streams ◽

Transient Events ◽

Water Quality Sensors ◽

Short Time ◽

Events Data ◽

Insight Into

Transient events are rarely observed because of their aperiodic nature and short time duration. Often, it is not practical to sample these events using traditional methods. Typically, electronic instruments are required to gather sufficient data to observe transient events in streams and rivers. In many cases, data loggers equipped with water quality sensors offer the only reasonable opportunity to study these events. Data gathered at high frequency from two small streams illustrate some features of transient water events. These events illustrate the variety of changes observed in streams during both natural and man-induced events. Transient events may result from impacts on the entire watershed or from direct inputs to the stream channel. How a watershed responds to an event may be characteristic of ecosystem response to the disturbance. Events which affect the entire watershed differ in mechanism between the two study watersheds. This is a result of the different nature of the two ecosystems. Direct stream effects are more common in the urbanized watershed, and have properties which are distinct from the events affecting the entire watershed. The response of the system to transient impacts provides insight into the processes within the ecosystems. Data from a two month period in 1995 is used to illustrate observation and analysis techniques.

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