99028 Water Quality: Issues, Indicators and Safety Guidelines
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 4 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
Water is an essential element of our lives, giving life to all living creatures on Earth. The importance of ensuring that this water is of sound quality is great, particularly if that water is intended for human uses. Best practice water quality testing can provide valuable data on the condition of a particular body of water and whether it may require management intervention. Understanding the health of a waterbody is also critical in enabling managers to create and maintain appropriate water management plans for the future.
This subject teaches field skills and conceptual knowledge focused on the following topics: Water quality guidelines for industry, monitoring water quality, cyanobacterial guidelines and risks, bacterial pollution, trace metals and other toxicants, ecotoxicology and bioindicators, issues related to reservoir management and water quality issues associated with mining and other human developments. The field-based learning is completed in a block-mode activity, complemented with online learning on the core content with recorded lectures.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Understand the risks associated with water quality and the guidelines for protecting human and ecosystem health |
|---|---|
| 2. | Identify and perform correct water quality sampling techniques and analyse samples collected |
| 3. | Interpret water quality data based on guidelines used to evaluate the ecological condition of aquatic environments |
| 4. | Effectively communicate water quality information and make recommendations |
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
1.0 Disciplinary Knowledge
Key foundation knowledge in water quality is gained through self-paced online activities with feedback provided, and a full-day field trip focused on learning, and then demonstrating, correct water sampling techniques. Your learning is assessed in interactive online quizzes, a field-based competency assessment, as well as a written water quality report to the standards of professional environmental scientists.
2.0 Research, Inquiry and Critical Thinking
You will develop field-based sampling skills, interpretation of guidelines, and learn to apply data to assessing water quality for human and aquatic ecosystem health. This will allow you to determine the health and status of different aquatic environments and make recommendations based on this. Quiz 1, 2 and 3 allow you to reflect and demonstrate what you have learned in the subject and broaden your understanding of water quality. This information and feedback from the quizzes and field trip should be used to improve the report for the subject. This ability to reflect on what you have learned and to learn from and continuously improve your efforts is crucial to lifelong learning.
3.0 Professional, Ethical and Social Responsibility
This subject develops key professional skills for studying the water quality of aquatic ecosystems. Within the subject you will learn about different ways to monitor water quality and how this relates to guidelines. These skills are then applied and assessed through the presentation and interpretation of data for the written assessment report. The importance of water quality in aquatic ecosystems for society is learned both in lectures and the field-based context. Due to the importance and vulnerability of these systems, an understanding and monitoring of the environmental changes due to human pressures is very important. Society requires that human needs and the environment be balanced to ensure a sustainable future. Your understanding of anthropogenic impacts on water quality, and how these relate to human and ecological risks are assessed through quizzes and a written assessment report.
4.0 Reflection, Innovation, Creativity
You will develop the skills necessary to evaluate and use appropriate technological and scientific skills to investigate water quality issues and use innovation and creativity to develop management solutions.
5.0. Communication
You will develop the skills necessary to present and critically interpret (in a written report) the data you have collected or been presented with. As part of the field excursion component you will make an assessment of the health of an aquatic system against relevant guidelines based on the data you collect or are given and communicate these findings and recommendations for management and through a formal report. You will be required to assess the risks, compliance against guidelines and risks to water users and the environment. One component of the marking schedule for the report is based on the clarity of these findings and how well they are substantiated and related to guidelines. The report is similar to those likely to be required by employers in this field.
Teaching and learning strategies
In the first week of the semester, students are provided with a written document outlining the program for this subject, including online self-paced activities delivered in Canvas and the in-person field trip.
Online activities provide comprehensive information of the current knowledge in the subject area to assist students with preparation of the assessment tasks. Students will work through three modules based on different aspects of water quality assessment. Students will do a range of activities online including self paced learning in the modules, interact with other students through surveys and questionaires and share their experiences and ask each other questions. Students will also utilise recorded lectures from people working in the field to develop knowledge and have access to the resources needed to enhance learning. Practical exercises and training completed on the field trip allow students to develop and demonstrate their practical skills in sampling design, planning, and execution. There will be individual work and also collaborative tasks developing sampling design and strategies together. All information and experience is then synthesised so students are able to professionally assess the water quality of the site and then communicate their findings in the form of a written report following current professional standards.
This subject includes online and field-based learning activities. In the later part of the session, you will attend a whole day field trip to a waterway site to learn sampling techniques to measure the water quality and indicators of biological health in aquatic systems. Application of these skills will be tested on the field trip. Knowledge gained in the subject will be tested in quizzes. The samples collected on the field trip will be analysed and this data will form the basis of a report assessing the water quality risks at the site using guidelines, and suggest management recommendations. The field based learning provides an opportunity for students to work under real world situations developing the skills required by industry. Students will engage in collaborative learning with their classmates during all field activities and receive comprehensive training and feedback from teaching staff during the trip. Excursion manuals and online learning notes are provided in the subject. Written feedback on the reports will be given by the online tool REVIEW.
Content (topics)
The following is a brief outline of the subject content:
- Importance of good water quality in aquatic ecosystems
- Guidelines for water quality protection
- Metals and other industrial pollution
- Algal bloom issues and guidelines
- Microbial assessment of water quality
- Biological assessment for water quality
There will be a one whole day field excursion to train students in practical skills for water quality and biological sampling.
The data collected from the field day will be used to write a report on the water quality of the visited aquatic system and the data will be interpreted for safety and possible management actions.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Quizzes
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1 and 3 |
| Type: | Quiz/test |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: | Correct answers to quiz questions. |
Assessment task 2: Field trip sampling techniques
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 2 and 3 |
| Type: | Demonstration |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: | This is a competency-based assessment conducted in-person during the field trip. Students are awarded marks for demonstrating correct water sampling techniques and data interpretation. |
Assessment task 3: Report on water quality
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 3 and 4 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Criteria: | Correct data interpretation and evidence of clear written communication skills applicable for different environmental stakeholders. |