Physical and chemical

Examples of physical and chemical water quality indicators include:

  • nutrients (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus)
  • microalgal growth (e.g. chlorophyll-a)
  • water clarity (e.g. turbidity, suspended solids, Secchi depth)
  • pH
  • dissolved oxygen
  • temperature
  • salinity
  • metals (e.g. lead, copper)
  • pesticides.

Physical and chemical indicators are used in water quality analyses and waterway assessments. They can be complemented by biological and habitat indicators when conducting such assessments.

More information

Further details on water quality indicators are provided in the Queensland water quality guidelines and the Queensland monitoring and sampling manual.

For earlier reports on water quality monitoring visit our publications page.