Water Quality Test Data

Name of Tester: Joel and Jacki Clark Date: 4/11/09 Time: 5:30 PM

Location : Weeki Wachee (Cave)

Recent and Current Weather

Cloudy, high 70s, breeze off Gulf… no real rain in last 7 days, just some sprinkles

Description of Area (Include plant and animal/insect life)

Weeki Wachee is the oldest continually-running attraction in Florida. It is located on Hwy 19 South of Homosassa. It was taken over in late 2008 by the state and is now Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. An ambitious sediment-removal project is in process, and the invasive plants have been removed for now. There are still copious amounts of algae in the basin. The basin is surrounded on two sides by structures, one side by a rubble wall with philodendrons, various palms, cypress, and magnolia trees. Fish and turtles abound.

Description of Water (Include aquatic plant and animal/fish life)

The water is crystal clear. The test sample was taken just inside the cave, in the first big room after the Gauntlet, so there was no opportunity to observe cave life.

pH: 7.7 (6.5-8.5) Temperature: 24.8 C @ time of test

TDS: 206 ppm ( <500 ppm) Nitrate: .25 ppm (< 10 ppm) Nitrite: 0 ppm (< 1 ppm)

DO: 2.5 ppm ( >2 ppm) Phosphate: .05 ppm (<0.1 ppm) Turbidity: clear

BOD: unavailable Flow: not measured WQI: 63.3–73.86 which

is average to good

*Numbers in parenthesis are acceptable limits.

Cave Species Counts:

Non-applicable

Date and Time of E. Coli Count: 4/14/09 @ 5:45 PM E. Coli (purple w/wo pink halo): 0/100 ml

Non-Fecal Coli (pink, light pink): 5/100 ml Other Bacteria (teal/pale/yellow/clear): 40/100 ml

Implications and questions: Because we currently lack enough results to track trends, no true conclusions can be wrought from the data. As more tests are completed, trends should become visible.