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UPDATE !! Round 1 of Save The River’s "1000 Islands Beachwatch" went swimmingly! Save The River executive director Hilary Grimes and intern Leigh McMahon, with a few volunteers and curious bystanders, completed the first of several water chemistry tests and ecological surveys for Potters Beach, Clayton, Alex Bay, Kring Pt. and Jacques Cartier State Park swimming areas. The results, shown in the table below, are reassuringly unexciting, but will provide the 1000 Islands community with an idea of how healthy their beaches are. |
| The beaches were all tested for
nitrates, ammonia, and phosphates; pH, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen; and
coliform bacteria. Testing for nitrates is a routine operation for water quality
monitoring. Not only do nitrates and other nitrogen compounds encourage weed overgrowth,
they can be poisonous: excess nitrates in drinking water cause "blue baby"
disease, a blood disorder in infants. Ammonia is another nitrogen compound, a gas formed in the decomposition of any nitrogen-containing material. Although it usually disappears pretty quickly, it can build up in enclosed water bodies and is toxic to fish at fairly low levels. Once upon a time, when laundry detergents were phosphated, detecting phosphate in surface water was a strong hint that household wastewater might be present. Phosphates are also a growth nutrient for aquatic plants. |
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| Turbidity, or the cloudiness of
the water, isn’t very appealing to look at or swim in, but even worse, very murky
water would keep needed sunlight from penetrating to deeper levels. Only Alexandria Bay
and Jacques Cartier State Park samples were slightly turbid compared to treated water
(probably due to the number of swimmers present during the visit). Water temperature is an important aspect of water quality for aquatic life. As temperature increases, the dissolved oxygen necessary for life underwater decreases. Many freshwater species of fish can tolerate only narrow ranges of temperature. The amount of acidity in water is measured by pH. Fish and plant respiration, decomposing organic material, or soil or rock types all naturally increase acidity; it can also be a result of acid rain or industrial discharge. Luckily, all of the sites had a pH of 8-8.5, close to the neutral value of 7.0. Just as we need oxygen to breathe, so do fish, aquatic insects and other underwater inhabitants. A dissolved oxygen level of at least 3-6 ppm is necessary for most aquatic life. The bacterial breakdown of pollution in water consumes dissolved oxygen, therefore a low level indicates pollution. Detection of coliform bacteria can, but doesn’t always, indicate fecal contamination. Although the Save The River sample kit can’t count the number of bacteria, the presence of gas bubbles and change of color in the test tube show that coliform bacteria are living and respiring in the water. All of the sites had some evidence of aquatic life present: freshwater shrimp, tiny "water fleas" or daphnia, and copepods (the tiny white things that swim around when you look in a glass of river water), snails and egg masses. Clayton’s survey yielded the most unusual life form: we found a flatworm with the characteristic arrow-shaped head! Jacques Cartier State Park seemed to have the least flora and fauna according to our survey methods. There are still plenty of opportunities to take part in 1000 Islands Beachwatch! The next round starts on August 22, with another visit to Potters Beach. Call for other site visit dates and times, or to hear more about our Beachwatch results. |
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