Simplified Water Quality Index (WQI) Reporting

•  WQI Introduction (from FOTSCH website)
•  WQI Background (from FOTSCH website)

Water quality measurement reports used by water scientists can be confusing and intimidating to the lay public.

Single WQI value to simplify water quality reporting for a given place at a given time.

Using a worksheet, a simplified WQI score can be calculated from the underlying water chemistry data. This score translated to easily understood ratings of Excellent, Good, Medium (average), Fair, and Poor.

The worksheet shown at the left can be downloaded here (requires Adobe Reader).

Single WQI Component Value to communicate meaningful results.

Using a graph, a single WQI component (Dissolved Oxygen in this example) can illustrate differing quality values at one site over time or multiple comparison sites over time.

The graph shown at the left and its associated data can be downloaded here (requires Adobe Reader).