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Water Quality Assessment: Biological
Biological attributes of a waterway can be important indicators of water quality. Biological attributes refer to the number and types of organisms that inhabit a waterway. The poorer the quality of water, the fewer the number and types of organisms that can live in it.

Image of Justicia americana in Wheeling Creek.

Photo: Justicia americana in Wheeling Creek. Photo courtesy of Dr. Ben Stout.

When assessing water quality, it is also important to look at the quality of organisms that live in a waterway. Some species are more sensitive to chemical and physical changes in their habitat than other species. If species that tend to be sensitive to pollution are present in a waterway, then that waterway most likely has good water quality.

 

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