Service:
Water Quality and Sediment Testing

Water quality and sediment testing are key tools for understanding the overall health of a lake. Water quality testing measures what’s in the lake’s water — such as nutrients, oxygen levels, clarity, temperature, and pollutants. These results show current conditions and help identify issues like algae growth, pollution, or low oxygen that affect aquatic life and recreation. Sediment testing examines the material at the bottom of the lake, where nutrients and pollutants can build up over time. It reveals the lake’s long-term history of contamination and whether the sediments might release nutrients back into the water, fueling future problems.

Together, these tests provide a complete picture of lake health, helping managers make informed decisions to protect and restore the ecosystem.

Water Quality Testing

Water quality testing in a lake is the process of measuring the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the water to understand its health and suitability for aquatic life, recreation, and other uses. Water quality testing tells us what’s happening right now in the lake’s water column — the part of the lake we see and where most aquatic life lives.

What it involves

Testing often includes checking parameters such as:

• Nutrients (like phosphorus and nitrogen) – too much can cause algae blooms.
• Dissolved oxygen – needed for fish and other aquatic organisms.
• pH and temperature – affect how nutrients and metals behave in the water.
• Turbidity (clarity) – shows how much sediment or algae are present in the water.
• Metals or pollutants – reveal contamination from runoff or human activity.
• Conductivity
• Chlorides
• Total Suspended Solids
• Total Dissolved Solids
• Alkalinity

These results reflect short-term conditions that can change daily or seasonally based on weather, runoff, and biological activity.

Water quality testing results help:

• Detect pollution early – Identifies problems such as nutrient runoff, sewage leaks, or chemical contamination before they worsen.
• Guides management decisions – Data helps determine if restoration, aeration, or nutrient reduction efforts are needed.
• Track changes over time – Monitoring trends shows whether the lake’s condition is improving or declining.

In short, water quality testing is like a health check-up for the lake. Results help diagnose issues, track progress, and protect both the environment and the people who enjoy it.

Sediment Testing

Sediment testing, on the other hand, looks at what’s happening at the bottom of the lake.
Sediments act like a long-term memory bank for the lake — they store nutrients, metals, and organic matter that have been built-up over many years.

What it shows

Testing often includes checking parameters such as:

• The types of nutrients being stored in the sediment.
• The forms of nutrients, especially phosphorus, can be released back into the water and used as a food source by algae and aquatic plants.
• Whether nutrients are accumulating over time.

Putting it together

When you combine both types of testing, you get a complete picture of lake health: