N.C. Cooperative Extension and Onslow County, in an effort to be transparent, offers the following data and information from our Water Quality Monitoring Program. Data collection and processing are paused due to new lab construction. We will update the information as it becomes available.
- Updated as of 6/15/2023 Onslow County Cooperative Extension is no longer offering the Water Quality Monitoring Program.
To help you understand what the data means on the data sheets below, here are some useful explanations and definitions of what you see on each sheet:
- Each data sheet is labeled with the date, meter used to take measurements, the weather that day, and the name of the sampler.
- Site Code: each sample site has a unique site code that is used to identify the site. There are 28 sites total.
- Site Name: each sample site has a name that is used to identify and locate the site.
- Dissolved Oxygen (DO): the amount of oxygen present in the water. It is measured in both percent saturation (% sat) and milligrams per liter (mg/L).
- Temperature: temperature is measured in degrees Celsius.
- Specific Conductance (Spec. Cond.): the ability of the water to conduct an electrical current.
- Salinity: the amount of salt present in the water. This is measured in parts per thousand (ppt).
- Bacteria levels: the amount of Enterococci bacteria present in the water. Enterococci are fecal indicator bacteria, meaning that their presence indicates that fecal waste may be present in the water. Bacteria levels are determined by examining the water samples in our lab. Bacteria levels are measured in #/vol and bacteria/100 mL.
2022 data sheets:
Please call our office with any questions.
