USGS Stream Data Part 6

PH of Water

The pH of water is important to know as well. pH tells us how acidic or basic the water is. pH scales go from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 would be neutral. Chemicals, nutrients, and heavy metals will all dissolve differently depending on the pH level of the water. Since the pH level dictates how nutrients dissolve in the water it will also determine how available these nutrients are to the aquatic life.

Also, lower pH levels will dissolve heavy metals better and then these will be consumed by the aquatic animals. Rain water is also highly acidic especially in the northeast part of the United States. After a heavy rain the pH level of a stream will decrease. Rain is naturally acidic because of “carbonic acid” but rain that is mixed with sulphur compounds from coal fired power plants will increase the acidity which will then enter our streams and rivers.

It is extremely important for all of this to keep these things in mind as we go about our daily lives because everything we do can have an impact on our waterways. Allowing pollution to go unchecked, dumping organic matter into our streams or even along the banks where it could get washed into the waterway, washing our vehicles in areas where the soapy water could wash into storm drains, allowing fertilizer from our lawns and gardens to wash into streams, chemical sprays, paints, etc. All of our actions have a direct impact on the health of our waterways.

This concludes our series on the USGS stream conditions site. I do hope you learned something from these posts. This site can be used to plan your next trip and it also can be used to understand the health of our streams and waterways. I hope you will use it in the future. I also hope that I have given you some thoughts on doing a little to help protect our waterways from pollution and waste. It only takes a lack of respect and a moment of carelessness to cause great harm to these fragile ecosystems.

Please help out and do your part to protect them. What I have given you here is only a brief overview of this topic. I encourage you to do your own research and dig into these items deeper.