Water Quality > Water Quality Program > What We Are Testing For

What We Are Testing For

The water quality study measures salinity, oxygen, temperature, suspended sediment, chlorophyll, and the sewage indicating bacterium Enteroccocus.

We use a lab equipped with the IDEXX Enterolert system to test for Enterococcus. Our water quality scoring is based on EPA’s Federal Recreational Water Quality Criteria for safe primary contact (swimming and immersion).

Water from about 30 cm below the surface is continuously pumped over the side and then past an array of sensors on a Hydrolab DS5 data sonde. As the water flows past the sensors, the Hydrolab records temperature, salinity, and turbidity, as well as the oxygen and chlorophyll concentrations. The Hydrolab is interfaced with a GPS unit so that the time and location of each measurement (in latitude and longitude) are also recorded.

  • Why Enterococcus?

  • What do the numbers mean?

  • Temperature

  • Salinity

  • Turbidity

  • Oxygen

  • Chlorophyll

  • Other Hudson River Pollutants

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