MyPond capability
Pond water quality tracking
Log a reading, see where it stands, and watch the trend.
MyPond records pond water quality across 31 parameters, spanning physical, chemical, nutrient and biological measures. Each reading carries its sample date, time, depth, location and whether it came from a field kit or a lab, and each one is rated against freshwater pond reference ranges as Good, Caution or Poor. Readings accumulate into a per-parameter history, so the question stops being what a single number means and becomes which direction the pond is moving.
Inputs, analysis, outputs
What you provide
- A reading
- A parameter, a value, a unit and a sample date. Optionally the sample time, the depth it was taken at, where in the pond, the method, and whether it is a field or a lab result with the lab named.
- Connected sensors, where present
- Ponds with in-water sensors and an on-site weather station stream continuous readings alongside the manual entries rather than replacing them.
What MyPond does
- Status rating against reference ranges
- Each parameter has a freshwater pond reference range and a rating shape. Some parameters are rated as a minimum, where higher is better, such as dissolved oxygen. Some are rated as a maximum, where lower is better, such as phosphorus. Some are rated as a range with a healthy band, such as pH. A few are informational only and carry no rating, such as temperature, which is tracked for context rather than judged.
- History by parameter
- Readings are plotted over time per parameter, keyed by sample date, so a June to September decline in clarity reads as a trend rather than as two disconnected numbers.
- Depth and location awareness
- Readings carry depth and sample location, which is what separates a stratified pond with an anoxic bottom from a genuinely low oxygen pond.
What you get back
- A rated reading
- Good, Caution or Poor, or informational where no standard applies.
- Per-parameter history
- Across every sample date on record.
- Field and lab results side by side
- With the lab identified on lab results.
- A pond-level snapshot
- Current standing across the parameters you track.
How it works
What Good, Caution and Poor mean
They are general freshwater pond guidelines, not regulatory limits and not a site-specific standard. Good means the value sits inside the healthy freshwater range for that parameter. Caution means it is approaching a level that causes problems. Poor means it is outside the healthy range and worth acting on. Season and geography shift these, and a pond over carbonate bedrock has a legitimately different normal than one over granite. Two worked examples: dissolved oxygen is rated Good at or above 6 mg/L and Caution from 4 to 6 mg/L, because below 4 mg/L there is real fish kill risk. pH is rated Good from 6.5 to 9.0 and Caution from 6.0 to 9.5, because most aquatic life does well in that band.
Why temperature is not rated
There is no good or bad water temperature for a pond in the abstract. It is tracked because it is the context every other reading has to be read against: oxygen saturation, ammonia toxicity and treatment behavior all move with it.
Why field and lab readings are kept separate
A field kit and a certified lab disagree in predictable directions on some parameters. Recording which is which keeps a method change from looking like a change in the pond.
Common questions
How many water quality parameters does MyPond track?
31, across physical, chemical, nutrient and biological categories.
Does MyPond accept lab results as well as field test kits?
Yes. Each reading is marked as field or lab, and lab results carry the lab name, so the two are comparable without being conflated.
Are the Good, Caution and Poor ratings regulatory standards?
No. They are general freshwater pond guidelines used to flag readings worth attention. They are not discharge limits or drinking water standards.
Related
MyPond is built by Natural Waterscapes. See live data from a real pond, or what it costs.