Twin Forks Playground test site : Junction Creek

We got to the Twin Forks sampling location, brought all the equipment to the sampling site but noticed that it was not easy to get to the water, so we had to walk 255 m down stream to find a safe location to sample. The reason the original spot was not safe, was because there was too much overhanging ice and fast current so we found a more secure location where we could access the water without having the risk of falling in.

Before starting to sample we took everything we needed out and started filling out the notebook with the air temperature, weather, 24hr weather, time, date, coordinates, and place. We took the temperature of the water, conductivity, used the strip that indicated chlorine, pH, alkalinity, and total hardness, dissolved oxygen and then took the depth of the water.

We would recommend that next time we bring the sampling jar pole to facilitate getting the water at the regular sampling spot. Another thing that could be done is to start sampling a little later in the month or year so there is no overhanging ice ledge. Lastly, we noticed that the readings on the strip are not like the previous year’s readings, we presume it’s because instead of directly putting the test strip in the water it was easier to put water in a jar then take the sample from there so the readings are a little off. Next time we sample we should put the test strip directly into the stream for optimum results.