Water Quality

water_quality loads chemistry observations for river or piezometer sites. It documents additional observational context and can support transport or diagnostic workflows when the selected parameters are meaningful for the study.

Accepted sources

Source	Use when	Source page
custom	Local chemistry records are authoritative.	custom
hubeau	Hub’Eau chemistry observations should be retrieved.	hubeau

Minimal example

[data.water_quality]
date_start = "2010-01-01"
date_end = "2020-12-31"

[[data.water_quality.sources]]
source = "hubeau"
site_type = "river"
parameters = ["NO3"]
extent = "watershed"

Visual check

Chemistry records should expose parameter identity, unit, station, and date coverage before being used in a workflow.

Fig. 165 The lower panel is a local chemistry chronicle. This kind of figure should name the parameter and make the concentration scale visible before the record is reused in transport or diagnostic workflows.

Downstream uses

• observation context in basin reports;

• transport or concentration workflows when relevant;

• data availability screening.

Water Quality Source: custom

Use source = "custom" when local chemistry station and chronicle files should be authoritative.

Minimal example

[[data.water_quality.sources]]
source = "custom"
path = "data/water_quality"
site_type = "river"
col_id = "station"
col_datetime = "date"
col_value = "value"
source_unit = "mg/L"

Operational checks

• Keep parameter names and units explicit.

• Distinguish river and piezometer sites with site_type.

• Inspect records for censoring, gaps, and inconsistent units before reuse.

Water Quality Source: hubeau

Use source = "hubeau" to retrieve public chemistry observations.

Minimal example

[[data.water_quality.sources]]
source = "hubeau"
site_type = "river"
parameters = ["NO3"]
extent = "watershed"
require_observations = true

Operational checks

• site_type selects river or piezometer observations.

• parameters should be narrow enough to keep the downloaded chronology interpretable.

• Always inspect units and station metadata before comparing values across providers or sites.

Provider replay

Fig. 166 The water-quality part of the Hub’Eau replay is intentionally plotted with the other observation families: chemistry shares the station/time-series contract, but parameter identity and units decide whether the values are usable.