Water Quality
Back to the Monitoring Hub
Improve pH and organic and chemical loading conditions
Data collection in progress
Koitajoki Watershed
Finland
Problem: The draining of peatlands through ditching leads to heavy metals, nutrients and organic matter leaching into the water, and acidification. This leads to pollution and chemical imbalances in the stream water ecosystem, and threatens populations of species including fish and wading birds.
Action: Snowchange is working to block the ditches and return the functionality of key peatlands. As these peatlands retain more water, they will prevent leaching into nearby waterways, improving water quality.
Indicator: Snowchange is documenting a range of water quality metrics which can be harmful to fish and human populations; high levels of these metrics caused by leaching should slowly decrease after peatland restoration, indicating improved water quality.
Methods
Snowchange is collecting a range of variables to assess water quality, flow and organic loading conditions. These include:
- Aluminium (µg/L)
- Chemical oxygen demand (COD) (mg/L)
- Colour (mg/L Pt)
- Conductivity (μS/cm)
- Copper (µg/L)
- Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (mg/L)
- Iron (µg/L)
- Manganese (µg/L)
- Organic matter (mg/L)
- pH
- Total Nitrogen (μg/L)
- Total Phosphorus (μg/L)
- Turbidity (FNU)
To collect this data, a certified limnologist collects samples from the sites, which are strategically selected as points where water flows from peatlands into nearby river systems. Trained hydrologists sample some water measurements in situ, such as conductivity and pH, and then collect several vials of water for analysis of remaining variables, which is carried out in a certified laboratory.
Sampling is planned to occur at several points throughout the year: in spring, where flooding is expected due to snowmelt; in late summer after heavy rains, although this opportunity is weather-dependent; and during autumn rains, before snow and ice make sampling impossible until the following spring.
In 2024, baseline data was collected for 17 sites in both May and September.
pH being measured in the field. Photo: Snowchange Cooperative.
Measuring flow rate. Photo: Snowchange Cooperative.
An example of organic loading into a ditch, which happens when peatlands are ditched and the water drained from the area. Photo: Snowchange Cooperative.
Results
Baseline data collected in October 2023 and May 2024 is shown in Figure 1. Sites are plotted using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), an ordination method used to plot points according to their similarity across many variables. Each axis (PC1 and PC2) is a mathematical combination of the set of water quality variables measured. In May 2024, one site, Likosarkka, was notably different from the others, reflected by its location in the plot (Fig. 1), with a much higher organic matter concentration than other sites. In October 2023, Kurkisuo was notably different from other sites, with high readings for total nitrogen, colour and total phosphorus.
Further data collection over the coming years will allow Snowchange to track whether, and how, water quality at these sites alters in resonse to restoration – although as this is a long term process, some changes can only be expected some years in the future.
Figure 1: Principal component analysis of water quality parameters across sites, measured in October 2023 (green) and May 2024 (blue). Sites which cluster more closely together in the plots are more similar across the different water quality variables measured. Arrows (red) show the direction and magnitude of contribution of each variable to the composite axes, so sites plotted further in the direction of an arrow have higher values for that variable.
Partners
