--- title: "Water Quality Monitoring Systems & Sondes | Aethair" description: "Surface-water, drinking-water, and stormwater monitoring with multiparameter sondes: pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity/TDS, turbidity, and temperature as…" url: https://aethair.io/solutions/water-quality/ --- Aethair solutions # Water Quality Monitoring Rivers, lakes, drinking water, and stormwater Surface-water, drinking-water, and stormwater monitoring with multiparameter sondes: pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity/TDS, turbidity, and temperature as the core panel, extended with nutrients (nitrate, ammonium), chloride, algae pigments (chlorophyll, blue-green algae), and level for event-driven sampling. [Schedule a call](https://calendly.com/d/ctdd-mkr-v9v/aethair-demo-website) [Build a Configuration](https://aethair.io/build/?params=ph,do,conductivity,turbidity,water_temperature\&solution=water-quality) At a glance 5 core parameters [pH](https://aethair.io/parameters/ph/) [Dissolved Oxygen](https://aethair.io/parameters/do/) [Conductivity](https://aethair.io/parameters/conductivity/) [Turbidity](https://aethair.io/parameters/turbidity/) [Water Temperature](https://aethair.io/parameters/water_temperature/) 2 devices cover it - **Thiamis** YSI Water Quality Sondes 2 standards set limits - [EPA EPA National Drinking Water Standards](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_ndwr/) - [EPA EPA Ambient Water Quality Criteria (Aquatic Life)](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_aquatic_life/) Why it matters ## Why Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Matters Rivers, lakes, reservoirs, groundwater, and coastal waters change constantly with rainfall, discharges, temperature, algal growth, and human activity, and damaging events often happen quickly, between a sampling technician's visits. A pollution spill, an oxygen crash that kills fish, a turbidity surge after a storm, or the onset of a harmful algal bloom can come and go in hours. Continuous, in-situ monitoring with multiparameter sondes captures these dynamics, providing early warning, regulatory evidence, and the long-term records that underpin water management, drinking-water protection, and environmental compliance. The result is a shift from occasional snapshots to a live picture of water condition, with alerts when a parameter crosses a threshold. What to measure ## What to Measure and the Limits That Apply The core panel covers the main program. Other parameters are added for a specific site or requirement. Every limit below is the published value from the standard that sets it. The core panel is **pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity (or specific conductance), turbidity, and water temperature**, the five parameters that together describe the basic health and chemistry of a water body and appear in most monitoring programs. From there the panel extends to the concern at hand: **nutrients** (nitrate, ammonium) for eutrophication and agricultural runoff, **chloride and total dissolved solids** for salinity and drinking-water quality, **algal pigments** (chlorophyll, blue-green algae) for bloom detection, **ORP** and **total suspended solids** for treatment and sediment, and **water level** so that concentrations can be tied to flow and events. pH Water Quality [**6.5–8.5 pH** *Secondary* · EPA drinking water](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_ndwr/) [**6.5–9 pH** *Acceptable range* · EPA aquatic life](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_aquatic_life/) pH is one of the most fundamental water-quality parameters, governing the chemistry, biological health, and treatment of any water body, and shifting quickly with discharges, algal activity, and rainfall. Continuous pH monitoring with a multiparameter sonde catches those changes in real time (an acid spill, a photosynthetic swing, a treatment upset) where periodic sampling would miss them. [pH: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/ph/) Dissolved Oxygen Water Quality [**5 mg/L** *1-day minimum (warmwater, early life stages)* · EPA aquatic life](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_aquatic_life/ "3 mg/L for other life stages; the coldwater criteria are higher (EPA 1986 DO criteria)") Dissolved oxygen is the parameter that most directly governs aquatic life, and an oxygen crash (from an algal bloom collapse, an organic pollution load, or a hot, still night) can kill fish within hours. Continuous DO monitoring is the early-warning backbone of river, lake, and aquaculture management, catching the fast, event-driven declines that spot sampling cannot. - **EPA aquatic life** 5 mg/L: 3 mg/L for other life stages; the coldwater criteria are higher (EPA 1986 DO criteria) [Dissolved Oxygen: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/do/) Conductivity Water Quality Conductivity is a fast, reliable proxy for the total dissolved-ion content of water and one of the most useful early-warning parameters in a monitoring program: a sudden change flags a pollution event, a saline intrusion, or a discharge. Continuous conductivity monitoring with a multiparameter sonde tracks this baseline chemistry and underpins the derived salinity and total-dissolved-solids figures. [Conductivity: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/conductivity/) Turbidity Water Quality [**1 NTU** *Treated water* · EPA drinking water](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_ndwr/ "≤0.3 NTU in 95% of samples") Turbidity, the cloudiness caused by suspended particles, is the water-quality parameter that responds fastest and most visibly to storms, spills, dredging, and treatment upsets. Continuous turbidity monitoring provides real-time event detection and is a regulated indicator in drinking-water treatment, closely tracking suspended solids and the transport of attached contaminants. - **EPA drinking water** 1 NTU: ≤0.3 NTU in 95% of samples [Turbidity: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/turbidity/) Water Temperature Water Quality Water temperature governs almost everything else in a water body: how much oxygen it can hold, how fast biological and chemical processes run, and which species can survive. Continuous temperature monitoring is a foundational channel of any multiparameter sonde deployment, giving essential context to dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and the whole water-quality picture. [Water Temperature: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/water_temperature/) ORP Often added · Water Quality Oxidation-reduction (redox) potential of water. [ORP: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/orp/) TDS Often added · Water Quality [**500 mg/L** *Secondary* · EPA drinking water](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_ndwr/) Total dissolved solids. [TDS: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/tds/) Salinity Often added · Water Quality Salinity derived from conductivity/temperature. [Salinity: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/salinity/) Nitrate (NO₃) Often added · Water Quality [**10 mg/L** *MCL (as N)* · EPA drinking water](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_ndwr/) Nitrate (NO₃) concentration in water, an indicator of nutrient pollution. [Nitrate (NO₃): sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/nitrate/) Ammonium (NH₄) Often added · Water Quality Ammonium (NH4) concentration in water. [Ammonium (NH₄): sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/ammonium/) Chloride Often added · Water Quality [**250 mg/L** *Secondary* · EPA drinking water](https://aethair.io/standards/epa_ndwr/) Chloride ion concentration in water. [Chloride: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/chloride/) Chlorophyll Often added · Water Quality Chlorophyll-a fluorescence, an indicator of algal biomass. [Chlorophyll: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/chlorophyll/) Blue-Green Algae Often added · Water Quality Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) pigment fluorescence (phycocyanin/phycoerythrin). [Blue-Green Algae: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/bga/) TSS Often added · Water Quality Total suspended solids. [TSS: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/tss/) Water Level / Depth Often added · Fluid / Level / Flow Water level / depth (pressure- or acoustic-derived). [Water Level / Depth: sensors, units, and every standard](https://aethair.io/parameters/water_level/) ![Thiamis in its field case with a probe connected, set on open ground.](https://aethair.io/images/solutions/catalog/thiamis-water-probe.webp) The setup ## How a Monitoring Setup Works Water quality monitoring uses a **multiparameter sonde** (a single probe carrying several sensors) deployed in the water body and logging continuously, with data telemetered back for dashboards and alerting. Because one sonde carries the whole core panel, a typical deployment is a single instrument rather than a collection of separate sensors. Placement depends on the goal: mid-channel and mid-depth for representative river monitoring, near an intake for drinking-water protection, or at the outfall for discharge compliance. Sensors need periodic cleaning and calibration to counter biofouling and drift. The recommended configuration below pairs a logger with a multiparameter sonde covering the core panel. Use the configurator to add nutrient, algae, or level sensors for your application. [Customize this configuration](https://aethair.io/build/?params=ph,do,conductivity,turbidity,water_temperature\&solution=water-quality) Which monitor ## The Instruments in This Configuration A [Thiamis](https://aethair.io/products/thiamis/) gateway logs these instruments continuously and sends their readings to Environet over 4G LTE (cellular data included) or the site's Wi-Fi. There they get the same alerts, reports, dashboards, and API as any Aethair monitor, in one account with every other device on the site, instead of a separate vendor app for each instrument. Thiamis runs on mains power, a solar panel, or an external battery. ### [YSI Water Quality Sondes](https://aethair.io/sensors/ysi-water-quality-sondes/) YSI multiparameter water-quality sondes (Xylem): the current EXO platform and the legacy 6-series ('Sonde 6'). [How Thiamis connects them](https://aethair.io/products/thiamis/) What you get ## Readings, Alerts, and the Report That Proves It Every reading goes to the Aethair platform. Here is what a monitoring program gets from it. ### [Live data and alerts](https://aethair.io/platform/environet/) Every reading in Environet as it happens, with alerts by email, SMS, or webhook at the thresholds you set. ### [Compliance reports](https://aethair.io/platform/reports/) Scheduled or on-demand reports against the standards above or your own limits, as PDF or a secure link. ### [Dashboards and AI analysis](https://aethair.io/platform/dashboards/) Live displays for a site or the public, and Noesis answering questions about the data in plain language. ### [Your data, through the API](https://docs.environet.io/) Live and historical readings as JSON or CSV through the Environet API (OpenAPI 3.2), for a building management system, an ERP, or your own applications. The data is yours. [See a sample report](https://aethair.io/docs/aethair-hq-first-floor-report-example.pdf) Related solutions ## Related Solutions ### [Aquaculture & Fish Farming](https://aethair.io/solutions/aquaculture/) Dissolved oxygen, temperature, and ammonia control ### [Hydrology, Level & Flow](https://aethair.io/solutions/hydrology/) Flood warning, stream gauging, and groundwater [All solutions](https://aethair.io/solutions/) Questions ## Water Quality Monitoring FAQ What are the core water quality parameters? pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, and water temperature form the standard core panel. Together they capture the basic chemistry, oxygen status, and clarity of a water body. Nutrients, chloride, algal pigments, and level are added according to whether the concern is eutrophication, salinity, blooms, or flow. Why monitor continuously instead of taking samples? Water quality changes rapidly with weather, discharges, and biological activity, and the critical events (spills, oxygen crashes, turbidity surges, algal blooms) often occur between manual sampling visits. Continuous in-situ monitoring catches them, provides early warning, and builds the long-term record that spot sampling cannot. What is a multiparameter sonde? A sonde is a single submersible instrument carrying several water-quality sensors together, typically pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, and temperature, with optional nutrient and algae sensors. Because it measures the whole core panel in one device, a water-quality deployment is usually one sonde rather than many separate sensors. How do I set up water quality monitoring? Deploy a multiparameter sonde at a representative location, logging continuously with telemetry and periodic calibration to counter biofouling. Use the configurator to pair a logger with a sonde and add the nutrient, algae, or level sensors your application needs.