Table Of Content

I WATER QUALITY DATA ONTARIO LAKES AND STREAMS 1982 Central Region Ministry of the Environment Ontario I Copyright Provisions and Restrictions on Copying: This Ontario Ministry of the Environment work is protected by Crown corn right (unless indicated), which is held by the Queens Printer for Ontario. It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes if credit is given and Crown copyright is acknowledged. It may not be reproduced, in all or in part, for any commercial purpose except under a licence from the Queen's Printer for Ontario. For infon'nation on reproducing Government of Ontario works, please contact iceOntario Publications at copyrighVui?ontario.ca e'iA 61, CaL WATER QUALITY DATA ONTARIO LAKES AND STREAMS 1982 CENTRAL REGION Water Resources Branch Ontario Mtnistry of the Environment TABLE OF CONTENTS. I NTROOUCTION . S 5555ft••,••• .e.SI5 S S SSS•S•SS• 1 INTERPRETATION OF DATA A. Analyses and Measurements Conducted at the ........ Sampling Site . . .. . .. .. 14 B. Analyses and Measurements Conducted at the .. Laboratory . . ...... ... ............ ... ....... 15 .................... 1) Microbiological Analyses 15 .............. 2) Chemical and Physical Analyses 17 ...................... 3) Radiochemical Analyses 34 .................. 4) SynthetIc Organic Analyses 38 STATION IDENTIFIER CODES. ABBREVIATED PARAMETER .................... HEADINGS AND QUALIFYING REMARKS CODES 41. ..,.. OTHER ABBREVIATIONS ,...... . .. . . ... .,... 51 ..... ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES USED TO MEASURE WATER QUALITY 53 .... GLOSSARY OF TERMS • • .. . .... . •.•. .. . •. ... . ... 56 SELECTED. REFERENCES ••• .. . •.. ... . .. ... •, • •. •. •.• 58 •...•...• ... .... .... . 59 1. Water Quality Data 2. Sampling Station Director (Alphabettcal Index) LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES Page 1. Regions and Offices in Ontario Ministry of the — Environment . .. . ... 3 2. Southern Ontario Terminal Basins . . ., . . . ... 5 3. Northern Ontario Terminal Basins 6 4. Network Index Map of Southern Ontario 9 5. Network Index Map of Northern Ontario ii 6. Central Region Network Map C—i 7. Central Region Network Map C—2 ... .,....,...... 8. Central Region Network Map C—3 13 9. Central Region Network Map C—4 ... 13a I NTRODUCT ION for 'Water Quality Data Ontario Lakes and Streams1, Central Region, 1982, is a revised version of the! previously published series entitled for Water Quality Data Ontario Lakes and Streams, Volume ". Published by the Water Resources Branch of the Ontario Ministry :of the Environment. The data presented in this publication were collected by the Water Resources A!!ssessmen!!t Units of this Ministry's six Regional Offices (Figure 1) with the assistance of local Conservation Authorities. Compilation and! publication were performed by the Water! and! Wastewater Management Section of the Water Resources Branch. The data result from a routine sampling program designed to provide a long—term record of water quality information at specific points on rivers and inland lakes in Ontario. Sampling station locations have been selected to meet one or more- of the following requirements: (1) to measure quantitatively and qual the materials discharged from tributary: streams to the terminal basins; (2) to monitor the effects of wastewater discharges on watercourse; (3) to p'rovide data that can be considered generally representative of water quality conditions in certain area. The information is used by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to maln!taln surveillance over water quality and to provide supporting data used in the analysis and prediction of water quality for planning and other purposes. The data are also made available to any person or agency concerned with the quality of Ontario's rivers and lakes. The booklet "Water Management Goals, Pol ici es, Objectives and Impl ementa— tion Procedures of th!e Ministry of the Environment", 1978 (Revised May, 1984) outl ines the current pol icies for water management in Ontario. I Samples are analysed for some or all of the following parameters: counts of total and fecal coliforms, enterococci, Pseudononas aeruginosa and escherichia coliforms, concentrations of biochemical I oxygen demand, total phosphorus, filtered reactive phosphate, filtered ammonia, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, filtered nitrite and nitrate forms of nitrogen; total, suspended and dissolved solids; levels of conductivity and turbidity; concentrations of chlorides, sulphates, unfiltered reactive silicates, acidity, alkalinity; units of pH; concentrations of total iron, phenols, hardness, calcium, magnesium; units of colour; concentrations of potassium, sodium, total organic carbon, chemical oxygen demand, solvent extractables, arsenic, mercury, aluminium, chromium, copper, lead, cadmium, zinc, I manganese, nickel, fluoride, cyanide and cobalt. 1 I I I I I $ I I I I I I 55 e a S S S S S S S S S S fl S — \ 1ONL:n:AK I - ç \ Fit 841 GA t \ / '— I 1 c \ \ PETCA8ONOUGM Q, NA - I " S A I I / / NORTHWESTERN - \ DuNHAM Ac / ,ia; \ JINORTHEASTERNt 1 A(NGNA REGION - Mirtistrv ci the Ervironmert NORTHERN ONTARIO / 1 FICURC 1 Scale REGIONS AND OFFICES MILES i;:j CENTRAL IN ONTARIO I Regional Offices HAMILTON / çfTNDsOn Scale District Offices • SARNIA ,— 25 9 25 50 Offices £ \ MILES ne,-4 I In addition, radiochemical analyses are conducted on selected samples and the results are expressed as levels of ionizing radiation (i.e. the number of nuclear disintegrations per second). I Selected samples are analysed for some or all of the following radiochernical parameters: gross alpha, gross beta, radium-226, I total uranium, cesium-137, cesium-134, cobalt—60, tritium and iodine 131. Some samples are also analysed for some or all of the following synthetic organic parameters: concentrations of PCB, PCP and 2,4,5—T. I The water quality monitoring program commenced in July 1964 in Southern Ontario and currently consists of a total of 760 stations I throughout Ontario. The following maps (figures 2 and 3) show the Southern and Northern Ontario Terminal Basins which are used to I identify the sampling station locations. Definitions or brief descriptions are provided for the more common parameters of pollution under the section entitled Interpretation of Data. Other water quality monitoring programs such as the Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program which is co-ordinated by the Ontario Ministries of Natural Resources, Environment and Labour is not discussed in I this publication. A summary of health implications of contaminants in fish with a listing of test results from each fish sampling I location can be found in the Ministry publication, "Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish." Three separate publications in this series are updated periodically and each pertains exclusively to the areas of Northern Ontario, Southern Ontario and the Great Lakes. I I I I * -4- 1 — — — — — — — — — — — Ui