Learn More: Conductivity

Specific Conductance (conductivity) is a measure of water’s ability to conduct an electric current. Conductance is often used as an indirect measure of the salt concentration in waterbodies.

(Definition taken from LAKEWATCH Circular #101: A Beginner's Guide to Water Management—The ABCs: Descriptions of Commonly Used Terms)

Real-time water quality stations are located in locations throughout the County. The instrument that is often used to collect these data is the YSI 6600 EDS sonde. The sonde is mounted such that the bottom of the unit is located approximately 1 to 3 feet below the water surface. The instrument is either mounted to a fixed pole system or a fixed buoy that is moored within the lake or river. The units are under a maintenance schedule to ensure proper functioning of each sensor.

Because the real-time water quality data presented on the Water Atlas goes through a series of transfers before becoming available, there can sometimes be a time delay in presenting the data. In addition, the data do not undergo the same level of quality control as other data sets prior to being presented on the Atlas. A caveat of using near-real time data is the possibility of error. Near-real time has not undergone as many quality control procedures common to our other data sets. Therefore, occasionally due to equipment malfunction there may exist errors within the data. Every attempt is being made to mitigate these errors before they occur.