Forensic Water Quality Investigations: Identifying Pollution Sources and Polluters

The aim of water quality analysis is to determine the presence of pollutants of concern and estimate their concentrations within acceptable levels of precision. Water pollution can be defined as concentrations of harmful materials or their indicators at or above certain levels that are established by epidemiological or other methods, or set by regulation. This chapter discusses general considerations for any water quality investigation and then addresses specific issues related to evidence and presentation of findings. Successful forensic presentation of water quality issues is grounded on good science, but depends in part on the art of persuasion. Models, diagrams, charts, and other real evidence can be immensely helpful along with photographs. Effective forensic presentations combine all three modes of communication, so that a numerical datum representing a violation of a given water quality standard, for example, can be illustrated graphically as a point lying well above a line corresponding to the standard and clearly distinguishable from other data points in the set.