Water Quality Standards |
|
Water Quality Standards |
|
The Water Quality Standards view allows you to manage Water Quality Standards in the current project in Hydro GeoAnalyst. The options in this view allow you to see and modify water quality standard criteria and create or import new sets of standards. These standards are used throughout Hydro GeoAnalyst, including in the Results pane of Sample List view, when adding parameter-based conditions to the Query Builder, and building a Sample Report. Multiple standards can be made active in the project, allowing you to check values against a mix of criteria across jurisdictions (Federal, State/Provincial, local) or target receptors (human health: drinking water, dermal contact, etc. or the environment).
Parameter values exceeding their respective water quality standards will be highlighted using a color code specific to each water quality standard when displaying the data throughout Hydro GeoAnalyst. Measured parameters which exceed these pre-defined levels are highlighted in predefined colors depending upon specified preferences. This allows you to quickly identify sample exceedances and water samples which may be harmful to human health or the environment.
The Water Quality Standard view can be accessed by selecting Samples > Water Quality Standards from the Main Menu.
The main toolbar of the Water Quality Standard view contains the following controls:
•
Create a new standard: create a new water quality standard.
•
Import: imports a water quality standard from an existing file.
•
Save changes: saves changes to the current water quality standard.
•
Standard Dropdown Menu: Allows you to specify the current selected water quality standard, which will be shown in the Water Quality Standard viewer to view and/or modify.
•
Delete standard: deletes the currently selected water quality standard.
• 
Refresh: refreshes the currently selected water quality standard from the database and discards any unsaved changes.
To create a new water quality standard, select the Create a new standard button. You will first be prompted to provide a (short) name for the standard that will be used to identify the standard in the database and in the Standard Dropdown Menu (e.g. New WQS):
Once you have entered a name, Click 
and Hydro GeoAnalyst will create a new blank water quality standard that you can edit:
For more information, see the section on editing existing water quality standards.
To create a new water quality standard by importing the standards from an external file, select the Import button to open the Import Water Quality Standard window:
At the Import Water Quality Standard window, you must enter the following information to complete the import:
•Name: a (short) name for the standard that will be used to identify the standard in the database and in the Standard Dropdown Menu;
•Select file to import: enter the full path of the file to be imported or select the 
button to navigate to the file. Note that excel (.xlsx, .xls) and comma delimited text files (.csv) are supported;
•Worksheet (shown if importing an Excel file) allows you to select which worksheet to import;
 |
•Delimiter (shown if importing a text file) allows you to select which delimiter(s) separate the data fields to be imported;
 |
•Header row: the row containing headers for the data fields to be mapped
•Start Importing data using row: the row where the data starts (default = 2)
Below these inputs, you will be shown a preview of the data to be imported. Click to proceed.
At this step in the import process, you will be asked to map the following fields in the standard to be imported:
•Parameter*: the parameter to which the standard applies
•Unit*: the unit of measurement of the standard for the given parameter. If the unit is different from the specified of the parameter in the project but of the same unit category, it will be converted at the edit window.
•Upper limit*: the value above which the parameter will exceed the standard
•CAS: the Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) number of the parameter. The CAS number will be used to match parameters where the project parameter and imported standard parameter name do not match exactly.
•Lower Limit: the value below which the parameter will not comply with the standard. If not specified, the lower limit will not be considered in the project.
|
Click to finish the import. Once the standard has been imported, it will be shown in the Water Quality Standard view and you can review and edit the standard as necessary.
The currently selected water quality standard (i.e. the standard that is selected in the Standard Dropdown Menu) will be shown in the Water Quality Standard view, which consists of two parts: the left side contains a list of the properties of the currently selected standard, while the right side contains a list of the criteria of the currently selected standard.
The left side of the Water Quality Standards view shows the properties of the currently selected standard:
•Active: a Boolean (True/False) variable that allows you to specify if the standard is active. Standards that are active (i.e. Active = True) in the project will be available throughout Hydro GeoAnalyst including in the results pane of the Sample List, when adding conditions to the Query Builder, building a Sample Report, and adding Plots. Standards that are inactive (i.e. Active = False) will be unavailable in these features
•Description: a description of the Standard. You may include pertinent information about the standard in this field such as the data of applicability, references, promulgating agency, etc.
•Exceedance color: a color picker control. The color you chose will be used to highlight cells where parameter values exceed the standard.
•Factor: a value from 0 to 1 (default =1). All values in the standard will be multiplied by this value, which can be used to add a factor of safety when evaluating parameter values against the selected standard
•Name: the name of the water quality standard
•Short Name: an abbreviated name for the water quality standard
The right side of the Water Quality Standards view shows the standard criteria table and a toolbar:
The standard criteria table includes the following six columns that describe the criteria in the standard:
Imported Standard Criteria Fields - the following columns are populated when importing a standard and are not editable:
•Standard Parameter: the name of the imported parameter
•Standard: the value of the criteria for the given imported parameter
•Unit: the measurement unit of the imported parameter
Hydro GeoAnalyst Standard Criteria Fields - the following columns are editable and are the actual standards that your project will use:
•HGA Parameter: the name of the parameter in the project. Only mapped parameters in this column will be used elsewhere in the application. To map a parameter, click in the cell and you can select the parameter using the parameter picker.
•Effective Standard: the value of the criteria for the given project parameter. Values will only be shown for mapped parameters using the project parameter units
•Unit: the measurement unit of the project parameter; can only be edited in the Parameter Editor.
Edited criteria will be highlighted yellow (
), while selected criteria will be highlighted in blue (
).
The toolbar includes the following controls:
•
Add a parameter: adds a new row to the standard. If selected, a new row will appear in the standard. You can click in the new row to select a parameter using the parameter picker.
•
Remove selected parameters: removes the selected parameter(s) from the standard.
•
Auto-map selected parameters: maps selected parameters.
Page url:https://www.waterloohydrogeologic.com/help/hga/index.html?water_quality_standards.htm
