Monitoring & Testing

page currently under construction/updating

Manchaug Pond Foundation takes a multi-level approach to preserving water quality of Manchaug Pond.  The focus of our water quality monitoring teams include:

• ON-LAKE sampling by a team of 3 monitor at the deepest point in the lake for clarity/turbidity, water temperature at every meter, and total phosphorous at the surface, middle and bottom levels. Testing takes place once a month, April through October.
• WATERSHED: at the inlet, outlet, and upstream locations are monitored by 3 volunteers assessing, sampling and testing water as part of the water quality monitoring/testing program of the Blackstone River Coalition.

On-LAKE

Clarity, Phosphorus, Temperature:

In July 2015, a team of Manchaug Pond Foundation volunteers began an effort to monitor the quality of our pond's water. For years, volunteers continue to work with the Blackstone River Coalition to monitor water quality at the pond's inlet, at the northwest cove, and outlet at the dam. And year's before that, the Manchaug Pond Association tested on-lake for clarity and bacteria.

The newly-organized MPF team will focus on measuring water quality on the pond itself. Water samples are taken for analysis and water clarity measurements at the deepest location on the pond. The team records the data collected and will analyze the data over time.

To begin the effort, the water-quality team is taking water samples at three different depths to analyze total phosphorus, recording water temperatures at 1-meter depth intervals, and taking on the Secchi disk monitoring to measure water clarity. In the future, the water sampling and analysis may be extended to include chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, and other measures of water quality.

The Blackstone River Coalition watershed-wide monitoring program tests monthly in three locations in the Manchaug Pond watershed from April through November monitoring the aesthetics which include turbidity, water appearance, presence of trash and nuisance aquatic vegetation as well as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients of orthophosphate and nitrates. Go to Zap The Blackstone to see a past report card and their interactive map of test sites.

Inlet, Outlet, and Upstream at Pond #2 on Old Mill Road:

Three locations in the Manchaug Pond watershed are monitored and tested once a month from April through November as part of a the Blackstone River Coalition watershed-wide Water Quality Monitoring Program.

Manchaug Pond is part of the headwaters of the Mumford River which is a tributary of the Blackstone River watershed. The 75 sampling sites are assessed for the following:

• aesthetics:
  • water appearance
  • presence/non-presence of odor, trash, and nuisance aquatic vegetation
  • turbidity
• water temperature
• air temperature
• dissolved oxygen
• DO % saturation
• nutrients
  • orthophosphate
  • nitrates
• conductivity

Go to Zap The Blackstone to see past report cards, their interactive map of sites, and other initiatives as part of the campaign to make the Blackstone River Fishable/Swimmable.  The years of data allows for long-term trends for the river system as well as analysis of sites and hotspots noting weather and stormwater events.