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The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
ORSANCO - For our mission, compact and strategic plan and our partnerships with government and industries. River Information - For facts about the Ohio River basin, information on the river's aquatic life and forecast, navigation and weather reports. Water Quality Protection - Information on water pollution control standards for the protection of aquatic life, drinking water and recreational uses of the Ohio River. Community involvement programs to share our water quality protection message with the public and encourage active citizen participation in caring for the Ohio River Basin while spreading the word about ORSANCO and our water quality protection programs.
Home > Data > Bimonthly Sampling Data
Data
Ammonia
Atrazine
Bacteria
Chlorides
Clean Metals
Cyanide
Electrofishing/Fish
Fish Tissue
Flows
Macroinvertebrate
Nitrate/Nitrite
Nutrients/Algae
Organics Detection System
Phenolics
Published Data
Quality Monitor
Spills
Stages
Sulfate
Suspended Solids
Total Hardness
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen
Total Organic Carbon
Total Phosphorus
Watershed Pollution
Wet Weather

Bimonthly Sampling Data

Bimonthly samples are collected from 31 locations: 17 on the Ohio River main stem, and 14 on major tributaries. The samples include suspended solids, sulfate, total hardness, total phosphorus, total organic carbons, ammonia, nitrate/nitrite, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, chlorides, phenolics, and cyanide.

In addition to the routine set of parameters collected bimonthly, quarterly analyses for eight total metals are performed on a rotating basis among stations. ORSANCO adopted dual criteria for several inorganic toxicants to protect against chronic (long term) and acute (short term) toxicity to aquatic life.

All samples are analyzed at the same laboratory to maintain Quality Assurance/Quality Control protocols.

Cyanide analyses are only conducted at eight of the upper-river sites during the months of January, March and November. During warmer months cyanide quickly decomposes into ammonia and carbon dioxide and is rarely detected, and as such, is only analyzed during winter months.