pH
Acidity or alkalinity, sensitive to biological activity and surrounding conditions.
Water Science
Understanding Water Through Data
Water quality is rarely uniform across a pond or reservoir. We study these patterns through structured environmental observation.
Our scientific focus
Temperature, pH, dissolved substances, suspended particles, biological activity, rainfall, and surrounding land use can create measurable differences between locations and over time. AquaWorks investigates these patterns through structured environmental observation, focusing first on small and controlled water bodies where repeatable measurements can be collected and compared.
The resulting measurements can be organized into maps, profiles, and visual models that show how an environmental variable changes across a defined area.
The project explores questions such as
- How does water quality vary across different parts of the same water body?
- How do measurements change over time?
- What environmental conditions may explain these differences?
- How can spatial data reveal patterns that are difficult to observe directly?
- How can water-quality information be communicated clearly to non-specialists?
The variables we observe
Temperature
Influences dissolved oxygen, biological processes, and how other variables behave.
Turbidity
Cloudiness from suspended particles, sediment, and runoff.
Conductivity / TDS
An indicator of dissolved substances and total dissolved solids.
Dissolved oxygen
Essential for aquatic life and shaped by temperature and biological activity.
Future indicators
Additional variables we may add as methods and instruments mature.
These are environmental indicator variables. No single value alone determines whether water is “safe” or “unsafe.”
Spatial variation
Data can differ across one water body. Sunlight, shade, depth, plants, drainage inlets, water flow, and sediment can all influence a measurement, so where we sample matters as much as what we measure.
Time-based observation
A single measurement represents only a specific moment and set of conditions. Repeated sampling is what lets us observe trends, anomalies, and seasonal change.
From numbers to understanding
The project is not about displaying numbers. It is about building a chain from raw observation to clear communication.
01Observation
02Comparison
03Interpretation
04Communication