|  | Public Health Safety | Public Health

What Is Water Sampling?

Water is life, however not all water is safe for human standards. Water samples can provide a lot of information on a water source such as nutrient content, pollution detection and bacterial counts. Many different industries submit water samples for testing in order to improve water quality. Not only does water samples provide constituents for drinking, but also for the environment.

  1. Significance

    • Water sampling is a technique used to analyze water from a variety of different sources. Sampling is a way of taking a small of amount of the source and testing it to provide information on the whole. Many different agencies use these samples to monitor pollution, biological or chemical changes, erosion and watershed management.

    Function

    • Homeowners take samples of their drinking water for health concerns. Ranchers and farmers may sample their wells for livestock and pasture management issues. State officials may test for water recreation and fishing reasons. No matter what the water is being used for, if it will impact humans in some way it needs to be tested.

    Motives

    • Water sampling is needed to determine chemical and biological constituents in a body of water. Again, several different industries use water to make life more pleasurable for humans. However, sometimes the ending result is releasing water back into a waterway filled with polluting substances that can harm the environment. Testing is often mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency to control the amount of substances released into ecosystems.

    Types

    • Samples are usually collected in a Whirlpak® or a sterile bag either by hand or by using a sampling line. For tap or well water, the sample should come directly out of the faucet into a sterile bottle. For sampling a stream or lake, it is important to take a sample from a site that is relative to the water body as a whole.

    Considerations

    • When monitoring a water body or system, it is important to sample every quarter or seasonally to achieve an annual prospective of changes. The more samples gathered, the more data can be given about a particular site. Drinking water should also be tested in the same manner to monitor contamination levels and health risks. Water samples should be given to a laboratory within four days and kept cold to limit microbial influence on the sample.

Public Health - Related Articles