Water Testing

FOLQ performs chemical water testing of Lake Quannapowitt, which it has done for more than twenty-five years in cooperation with students from Wakefield High School and volunteers from the community.

FOLQ works with various state and local government entities to analyze the Lake’s condition. At the state level, FOLQ continue its association with the Water Watch Partnership located at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), which is responsible for coordinating volunteer monitoring programs for rivers and lakes statewide. The Partnership monitors FOLQ’s activities, provides advanced lab analysis, , and provides educational materials and instructional programs.

At the local level FOLQ works with Wakefield’s Department of Public Works in conjunction with the federally mandated storm water runoff program. Many storm drains empty directly into the Lake, carrying pollutants and nutrients from the surrounding watershed area. The long-term goal of the federal program is to reduce these unwanted materials from entering Wakefield’s rivers, lakes and wetland areas.

A continued goal for FOLQ is the completion of a database of all its testing results for the purpose of establishing a base line of information to guide future plans to improve the Lake’s condition.

Testing takes place 5 Saturdays a year, beginning in April and continuing through the warm months. The water is collected at the dock of the Quannapowitt Yacht Club and is taken back to Wakefield High School for testing for pH, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, phosphate, nitrate, chloride and dissolved solids. New junior and adult members are invited to volunteer any Saturday that testing is scheduled and will be provided the supplies and training needed in the collection and analysis of samples. Those interested in volunteering should contact FOLQ by emailing mail@folq.org.

Testing Results

Date	Site	04/18/2018	04/01/2017	04/01/2016	05/18/2018	05/01/2017	05/01/2016	07/28/2018	07/01/2017	07/01/2016	8/25/18	08/01/2017	08/01/2016	10/01/2017	09/01/2016
Secchi disk m	Yacht Club Dock	0.8	0.63	0.75	1.8	0.62	1.05	0.5	0.46	0.60	0.68	0.48	0.50	No Sample	0.53
pH	Yacht Club Dock	6.57	6.66	6.18	6.83	7.97	7.4	7.11	6.93	7.73	6.73	No Sample	8.8	7.22	6.85
Alkalinity	Yacht Club Dock	24.15	23.1	3.9	28.75	27.15	10.2	31	24.1	28.95	30.5	No Sample	33.65	25	33.6
Dissolved Oxygen mg/L	Yacht Club Dock	8.6	9.63	10.83	8.6	9.2	10.4	6.99	8.36	6.27	8.03	7.99	7.97	No Sample	7.68
Phosphate ug/L	Outlet	ND	60	50	30	40	50	101	100	150	158	60	60	70	5180
Phosphate ug/L	Berm	40	120	70	185	190	130	363	120	0	117	200	180	No Sample	80
Phosphate ug/L	Yacht Club Dock	ND			44			46	60		43	60		70
Nitrate mg/L	Outlet	0.14	0.1	ND	0.12	ND	0.05	0.07	0.03	0	0.04	ND	0	ND	0.02
Nitrate mg/L	Berm	ND	ND	0.05	ND	ND	ND	0.11	0.02	0	0.08	ND	0	No Sample	0
Nitrate mg/L	Yacht Club Dock	0.14			0.13			0.08	0.04		0.04	ND		ND
Chloride mg/L	Outlet	179	172	364	176	182	136	189	190	148	188	193	191	206	208
Chloride mg/L	Berm	210	291	177	223	281	273	301	273	0	204	515	191	No Sample	150
Chloride mg/L	Yacht Club Dock	181			179			191	187		187	197		211
Chlorophyll a ug/L	Yacht Club Dock	14	27	28	3	28	27	52	46	25	65	19	70	No Sample	49
Dissolved Solids g/L	Yacht Club Dock	-0.1	-0.09	-0.13	0.22	-0.12	0.41	0.41	0.38	0.4	0.367	0.127	0.21	No Sample	0.247

Trophic State

Date	Site	04/18/2018	04/01/2017	04/01/2016	05/18/2018	05/01/2017	05/01/2016	07/28/2018	07/01/2017	07/01/2016	8/25/18	08/01/2017	08/01/2016	9/22/18	10/01/2017	09/01/2016
Trophic State	n/a	62.13	64.28	51.78	38.87	62.53	63.95	70.04	69.99	68.1	68.1	69.36	73.74		NA	87.91

Trophic State Level Key

Oligotrophic (0 to 4)

An oligotrophic lake is a lake with low primary productivity, as a result of low nutrient content. These lakes have low algal production, and consequently, often have very clear waters, with high drinking-water quality. The bottom waters of such lakes typically have ample oxygen; thus, such lakes often support many fish species.

Mesotrophic (4 to 12)

Mesotrophic lakes are lakes with an intermediate level of productivity. These lakes are commonly clear water lakes and ponds with beds of submerged aquatic plants and medium levels of nutrients

Eutrophic (12 to 50)

A eutrophic body of water, commonly a lake or pond, has high biological productivity. Due to excessive nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, these water bodies are able to support an abundance of aquatic plants. Usually, the water body will be dominated either by aquatic plants or algae. When aquatic plants dominate, the water tends to be clear. When algae dominate, the water tends to be darker. The algae engage in photosynthesis which supplies oxygen to the fish and biota which inhabit these waters. Occasionally, an excessive algal bloom will occur and can ultimately result in fish death, due to respiration by algae and bottom-living bacteria. The process of eutrophication can occur naturally and by human impact on the environment.

Hypereutrophic (50 to 2000)

Hypereutrophic lakes are very nutrient-rich lakes characterized by frequent and severe nuisance algal blooms and low transparency. Hypereutrophic lakes have a visibility depth of less than 3 feet, they have greater than 40 micrograms/litre total chlorophyll and greater than 100 micrograms/litre phosphorus.