Water Quality Monitoring

Stormwater staff monitors local creeks and streams to assess the effectiveness of our efforts to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of our waterways. We strive to fulfill the requirements of our State-issued NPDES permit by conducting an array of activities such as detecting and eliminating illicit discharges Report an Illicit Discharge , conducting surface water sampling, increasing public awareness, reducing inflow and infiltration and assessing stream corridors.

Monitoring staff collect water samples from over 120 sites throughout the City. Data collected is used to identify issues and trends relating to the health of our waterways. The assessment of surface water quality involves the analysis of numerous parameters including dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, conductivity, turbidity, E. coli, total suspended solids, nutrients and more.

The City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County has built a network of continuous monitoring stations to gain a more comprehensive look at regional water quality. Check out our website and monitoring reports.