Nitrate Monitoring 

In order to reduce harmful algae blooms in the Arboretum Waterway, which can result in eutrophication and fish kills, this project quantifies nitrate uptake of the two existing floating island wetlands by utilizing a EXO NitraLED probe. It is important to be able to measure nitrates, as nitrate is a major contributor to algae blooms, and determine how much the islands have contributed to abating eutrophication.

The main goal of this project was to provide a starting point to assess the effectiveness of the floating islands in reducing nitrate levels in the Waterway. Nitrate measurements were taken every hour from 10/5/21–10/28/21 and from 11/27/21–12/10/21, making this project a step towards producing a robust, continuous dataset for reliable long-term nitrate monitoring in the Waterway. The EXO NitraLED probe will continue to be a valuable water quality monitoring tool for the Waterway Stewardship Internship and its' collaborators for years to come.