Water samples

Could check out the

http://www.ntlabs.co.uk/ntlabsframe.htm

website, looks pretty comprehensive ?

Robert,

You could try Alcontrol as well, asking for BOD or COD, heavy metals, phosphates, etc (low dissolved oxygen is not necessarily an indicator of poor water quality but is still of interest) - www.alcontrol.co.uk.   However, many water bodies may contain high "pollutants" naturally and there are often many other factors which may be missed in a chemical analysis so it is often difficult to infer water quality simply from a water sample. The best methods are now to use RIVPACS based analysis such as PSYM (for ponds) where you analyse the aquatic invertebrate communities. This is how we monitor our water quality and it is also used by the Environment Agency (they designed the process). It is best to do this in conjunction with chemical analysis. It may seem daunting at first but the methods are fairly straight forward and if you have any experience using biological keys the necessary skills can be picked up quite quickly (with a good hand lens or microscope!!).

Of course it really depends on the nature of your study but if the time can be spared I would say that this way would give you a far better picture of water quality.

Regards



Edited by rhysrkid

Rob,

If road-runoff is the likely source of pollution then testing for hydrocarbons and heavy metals would make sence. Particularly if you are in a heath or acidic environment as certain metals will come into solution more readily under these circumstances (Al is a good example). How the ponds are 'fed' is important as well - ground water or surface water - how far are the ponds from the road and how does the topography differ? How does the plant life differ - you mention that superficially there appears to be no difference?

With the invertebrate sampling techniques you usually only have to identify to family level - different families are obviously more or less tolerant of pollutants and can therefore be scored.