Research Support Services Index
Water Quality Laboratory
An activity of the Center for Fisheries Research and Development, the water quality laboratory at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
- extends the research capabilities of the fisheries center, and
- provides analytical services for the center, the faculty, GCRL and other programs, institutions and agencies.
Location
Personnel
- Christine Trigg – Chemist
- Faye Mallette – Chemical Technician
- Cindy Gavins – Technician
Activity Report 2004
The Water Quality Laboratory was created to extend the research capabilities of the Center and to provide analytical services for Center, faculty, and GCRL research activities. The Laboratory is under the direction of Christine Trigg who has over 30 years experience in chemical analysis. Her main responsibilities are quality control of all analyses performed at the laboratory and data management. Faye Mallette, Senior Technician, also has 30+ years experience in water quality analyses.
Analytical services include chemical and physical analysis of water for organic and inorganic constituents using Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (20 th Edition, 1998, APHA, AWWA, WEF) and Methods for the Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes (EPA-600/4-79-020). Water quality analyses are routinely performed on field samples and on samples from aquaculture systems. To insure data validity, quality control procedures are incorporated into all aspects of analysis from sampling to reporting. The Laboratory also provides sample preparation services including sample digestion, separation techniques, and lyophilization.
Instrumentation and equipment currently available for research and service activities includes: water samplers, ion analyzers, UV/visible and scanning spectrophotometers, pH meters, turbidity meters, analytical balances, digestors, lyophilizers, reduction columns, tritrators, homogenizers, drying ovens, desiccators, refractometers, distillation units, deionizers, fume hoods, vacuum filtration apparati, dissolved oxygen meters, datasondes, computers, centrifuges, autoclaves, cameras, refrigerators, and freezers.
During 2004 the Water Quality Laboratory completed water analyses for a project to Establish Reference Conditions for Nutrients in Estuarine Waters. This project, funded by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (Grant No. MX974432-02), involved analysis of surface, middle, and bottom waters at 28 stations in Mississippi Sound (Jackson, Harrison, and Hancock counties). Water quality parameters measured included temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, total suspended solids, total ammonia, total nitrate-nitrite, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and total phosphate. These data are currently being statistically analyzed and will be used to determine reference criteria for these parameters for Mississippi’s coastal waters. Determination of State guidelines will be made in concert with the Estuarine Nutrient Workgroup of the Gulf of Mexico Program.
The Mississippi Water Resource Research Institute, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, and the GCRL provided research funding for the project Water Quality Standards: Establishing Nutrient Criteria for Mississippi’s Coastal Waters. Twenty-four hour water sampling during a wet season (May 2004) was performed by CFRD and MDEQ personnel at 9 coastal stations. Analyses of water samples were performed including temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, total suspended solids, total ammonia, total nitrate-nitrite, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and total phosphate. These data have been entered into an electronic data base and will be statistically compared to similar data collected at the same stations during a wet season in 2005.
The Water Quality Laboratory performed monitoring in support of several aquaculture projects at GCRL during 2004. These monitoring activities are necessary to insure that water quality in aquaculture systems is maintained at acceptable levels. These projects were:
- The Striped Bass Restoration Project (March through June 2004). Monitoring of pH, total ammonia, total nitrate, and total nitrite were carried out for striped bass aquaculture systems.
- Development of Cobia Culture (November and December, 2004). Water quality parameters (total ammonia, total nitrite, and total nitrate) were measured in cobia rearing systems.
- Blue Crab Advanced Research Consortium Project. Monitoring was ongoing during 2004, and included measuring pH, total ammonia, and nitrate levels in larval and juvenile blue crab culture systems.
The Water Quality Laboratory routinely provides training for students interested in obtaining skills in chemical analyses of coastal waters. During 2004 Christina Vorhoff, an Honors Program Intern from Gulf Coast Community College/Jackson County Campus, worked with us on a project describing water quality in Davis Bayou, Jackson County.
Technical Reports
- Perry, H.M. (GCRL Project Manager), B. Viskup, C. Trigg, J. Anderson, and L. Hendon. 2004. Monitoring to establish reference conditions for nutrients in estuarine waterbodies. Annual Report to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Grant MX974432-02.
Abstracts
- Trigg, C., F. Mallette, and H. Perry. 2004. Hydrological assessment of Mississippi’s coastal waters - Gulf of Mexico Estuarine Inventory and Study. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences 49(1):90. February 20, 2004, Biloxi, MS.
- Trigg, C. and H. Perry . 2004. Coastal development and water quality. assessing the health of Mississippi’s estuarine waters. 2004 Proceedings Mississippi Data Resources Conference, April 20-21, 2004, Eagle Ridge Conference Center, Mississippi.
