Stream Monitoring

In an effort to keep an eye on Grand Prairie's waterways, Public Health and Environmental Quality Department staff monitors 22 sites along the city's streams. Once a month, each sample site is evaluated for water quality based upon visual appearance and field and laboratory analysis of water samples. The data is helpful in detecting and eliminating potential sources of contamination. Samples are taken in conjunction with the Trinity River Authority. Protocol from the Texas Surface Water Quality Monitoring Procedures is used to ensure accurate data.

The Texas Surface Water Quality Standards establish quantitative and qualitative goals throughout the state and protective standards are used to designate purposes for which the state’s water bodies should be suitable. Some of the data collected, such as fecal coliform and dissolved oxygen, can be compared with a state standard, but many parameters, such as ammonia or turbidity, are used to look at trends within a surface water body.

ESD uses the most downstream possible point of the waterbody as an indicator of the behavior of that waterbody. At each site, parameters are statistically analyzed for trends. These analyses include an attempt to find a relationship between increases in fecal coliform, a pollutant of interest, and other measured parameters. The ability to predict this parameter might help in understanding how our water bodies are threatened by this pollutant.

To view Wet Weather Monitoring Station results from areas surrounding Grand Prairie, please visit the North Central Texas Council of Governments online data source