Community-Based Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Toolkit
Sample Processing and Analysis
The laboratory techniques used by Swim Drink Fish rely on the IDEXX methodology. This works by adding two nutrient-indicators (combined into a powdery substance called “Colilert”) to the water samples. The Total Coliforms and E. coli present in the water samples metabolize the Coliert when incubated for 24 hours. Once metabolized, the nutrient indicator for Total Coliform turns yellow, and the nutrient indicator for E. coli glows under a blacklight.
You can download or open links to templates of these documents and customize them to suit your monitoring program. If you have any questions about these documents, you may wish to refer to our Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Recreational Water Quality Monitoring, which has comprehensive details about why and how each of these document are used. This page covers chapters 5 and 6 of the SOP.
SECTION THREE
Documents for Laboratory Work:
Customize your Lab Bench Sheet
Now that you are ready to process and analyse your samples, download the Lab Bench Sheet. Customize the sheet according to your monitoring plan and record your data here.
Download the Lab Bench Sheet
Download the Cleaning Log and Instructions
Cleaning the Field and Laboratory Equipment
Equipment Inventory Management Sheet Template
This document helps us keep an inventory of the supplies we use for monitoring and lab work. We typically fill this out at the end of each week. Keeping track of inventory is especially helpful for knowing how many supplies we’ve used, and when we might need to order more. This template is a comprehensive list of all the supplies we use during monitoring. Download a copy of the Excel document below, you can edit it to suit your monitoring program.
Cleaning the Field and Laboratory Equipment
This document helps us track our cleaning and maintenance schedule for all the equipment we use during our monitoring work. As outlined in our SOP, we follow stringent equipment cleaning and maintenance guidelines to ensure the accuracy of our water quality results. In addition to being in our SOP, the associated instructions for the cleaning log are also linked below
The Most Probable Number (MPN) calculator to help you analyze your sample results. For more information on the MPN Calculator, see section 6.3 of the SOP.
Sample Analysis
The MPN Calculator
Now that you have your sample results, you’re ready to learn more about sharing this data with the public. Section Four outlines the various ways you can share your data in real-time or summarize your data.
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