The objectives of water quality monitoring systems are: 1.

To assess the impact of activity man upon the quality of water and its suitability for
required uses.
2. To determine the quality of water in its natural state which might be available to meet
the future needs and
3. To keep under observation the sources and pathway of specified hazardous substances.
The selection of sampling site is decided by the various uses of the water and by their
location, relative magnitude and importance. The chances of accidental pollution are
also an important factor and should be considered. The location of a river used down
stream of large urban or industrial area imposes greater risk and requires more
supervision than similar uses located upstreams.
Types of Samples
1. Grab or Catch Samples
A sample collected at a particular time and place represent only the composition of the
source at that time and place. However, when a source is known to be farly constant in
composition over a considerable period of time or over substantial distances in all
direction, then the sample may be said to represent a larger time period or larger
volume or both, than the specific point at which it was collected. In such circumstances
same source may be quite well represented by single grab samples. When a source is
known to vary with time, grab samples collected at suitable intervals can be of great
value in documenting the extent frequency, and duration of these variations. In case the
composition of source varies in space rather than in time, a set of samples collected from
appropriate locations with less emphasis on timing may provide the most useful
information.
2. Composite Samples
The term composite refers to a mixture of grab samples collected at the same sampling
point at different time. Sometimes the term time composite is used when it is necessary
to distinguish this type of sample from other.