Turbidity

• Turbidity is the measure of the opaqueness or cloudiness of water.
• Turbidity is influenced by the amount of floating matter such as leaves or soil in the water.
• Water clarity is very important for plants that rely on sunlight to produce energy through photosynthesis. 
• Turbidity is measured using specialized sensors that shoot out a beam of light from one end and record how much of the light makes it to the other end.

     Sunlight is the driving force of the life in the lake.  The amount of sunlight that is absorbed by the lake is influenced by many factors, one of the most important being the clarity of the water.  Scientists measure the turbidity of the water, turbidity is a measurement of how “not clear” the lake is.  So if the turbidity reading is high, it means the lake water resembles something like chocolate milk and is very cloudy.  If the turbidity reading is low then the water is very clear and you may be able to see the bottom of the lake.  The turbidity measurements are taken by specific sensors that shoot out a beam of light and measure how much of it is received by a sensor on the other side of the instrument.  If most of the light is recorded on the other side, then the water is very clear.  However, if the instrument records a low number then it means that the majority of the light was scattered or absorbed by particles in the water that make it cloudy.  The amount of chlorophyll in a lake is just one example of a factor that affects turbidity; high amount of chlorophyll can lead to high turbidity and murky water.  Rainstorms can also increase the turbidity of a lake.  When it rains, all of the rainwater that is not absorbed into the soil flows over the land and into the lake, carrying anything that it picked up along the way.  Low turbidity is better for plant growth because there is more sunlight available for the plants to use for photosynthesis.