In order to keep the health of any aquaculture system at an optimal level, certain water quality parameters must be monitored and controlled.
The Water Quality Lab at IMARES is equipped for this purpose with instruments that can measured a wide range of these parameters (pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, REDOX potential, salinity, turbidity, NH4+, NO3-, NO2-, Total N, ortho-Phosphate, Total Phosphate, silicate, TOC, COD, BOD).
The pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, REDOX and salinity are measured with portable meters. The meters can record the values of these parameters over long periods of time and at different time intervals. The data is stored on the meter itself and can be, whenever necessary transferred to the computer.
The chemical qualities of the water can be analyzed with one of the three spectrophotometers present at the lab. For several parameters (TOC, COD and Total Phosphate) the samples need to be incubated for a period of time at a certain temperature, process achieved with the thermostat in the lab.
The lab is further equipped with a turbidity meter, several thermometers, a titration unit, BOD measuring unit and a wide range of automatic pipettes’.
IMARES has recently incorporated to their lab facilities a series of auto samplers.
The auto samplers allow the monitoring of the water parameters over a 24 hour period time. Samples up to 1 liter can be collected to get an estimation of the daily fluctuations of the required parameter.
Therefore the Water Quality Lab at IMARES is equipped with all requirements for fish health and water quality management.