ABSTRACT
After water samples have been collected and analyzed in the laboratory, a project database can be compiled. But, that database is not ready for statistical and graphical analysis and interpretation until it has been quality assured. Mistakes and errors of a variety of kinds can crop up at many stages of project implementation. Such errors can compromise the quality of the data. You have devoted considerable effort and expense in generating chemical concentration values (CVs). You now need to know how robust those numbers are. If any of the data have been compromised in any way, you need to know that before you move forward with data analysis and interpretation. You risk faulty conclusions regarding patterns or trends in the data. Furthermore, these data may be needed as the basis for management or policy decisions. They may be used in litigation focused on emissions quantities, legal limits, and assignment of blame for environmental pollution. For a variety of reasons, you do not want and cannot afford bad data. You have too much at stake. You need to know yourself that the data are of high quality, and you also might need to be able to demonstrate to others (scientists, stakeholders, resource managers, lawyers, judges) that the data are of high quality. Often, you do not know in advance how the data will be used. You may conduct a study that seems at first glance to be mostly of interest only to you. But, years later, your study may shed needed light on a problem that is the subject of a lawsuit or that is needed as the basis for important management decisions.
