Freshwater is a finite resource as essential to agriculture and industry as it is to basic human existence. Water quality monitoring is a fundamental tool in the management of freshwater resources, and this book covers the entire monitoring process providing detailed guidance for implementing a monitoring network with step-by-step descriptions of field and laboratory methods. This essential work, which will be particularly relevant for field use in developing countries, provides: a general protocol for the design and implementation of a monitoring programme in surface and groundwaters; details of sampling and analytical methods; guidance on data analysis and presentation. This book provides a sound basis for designing and implementing water quality monitoring programmes and studies of the impact of human activities on water bodies. It brings together information on proven methods and thus will be useful for anyone concerned with water quality monitoring with a scientific, managerial or engineering background, including field staff. An overview of the prinicples underlying hydrological, chemical, biological and sediment measurements together with their importance and relevance to water quality monitoring is also included. This important text is the outcome of a collaborative programmne of activity between UNEP and WHO, with inputs from WHO and UNESCO, and draws on the international statndards of the International Organization for Standardization. It has been comprehensively field tested in deveolping countries and reflects the experience resulting from those tests. Water Quality Monitoring is a companion volume to Water Quality Assessments edited by Deborah Chapman.