Water Electrical Conductivity (EC)

AUS-TMI-IND-WEC General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

1500 µS/cm

Thresholds: Lower: —, Upper: 1500

Direction: Lower is desirable ↓

Form: UpperThreshold

Scoring Curve

Scoring curve unavailable

The scoring engine could not generate a curve for this benchmark context. The primary form is CompositeFramework, but the benchmark data may be missing required fields (e.g., optimal range bounds for an OptimalRange benchmark). This is typically a data quality issue in the benchmark pipeline.

Contributing Benchmarks

CompositeFramework Primary LowerThreshold Guard UpperThreshold Guard Point Guard MinimumOnly Guard Point Guard OptimalRange Guard UpperThreshold Guard Point Guard MaximumOnly Guard MinimumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard Point Guard

Evidence & Context

This ecotoxicological threshold of 1500 µS/cm should be considered a hard limit, beyond which significant ecological harm is expected.

Metric Definition:

Electrical conductivity level beyond which significant ecological harm occurs due to salinity stress.

Benchmark Definition:

Upper detrimental threshold of electrical conductivity indicating ecological harm.

Justification:

Based on ecotoxicological reviews specific to Australian freshwater biota indicating adverse effects above this level.

Sources (1)

Preview of Water quality indicator: Electrical conductivity - Queen Mary University of London, accessed August 11, 2025,

Water quality indicator: Electrical conductivity - Queen Mary University of London, accessed August 11, 2025, Journal

(PDF) Effects of increasing salinity on freshwater ecosystems in ...

View Source

Supporting Sources (3)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

(PDF) Effects of increasing salinity on freshwater ecosystems in Australia - ResearchGate, accessed August 11, 2025,

Direct Evidence Journal

Effects of increasing salinity on freshwater ecosystems in Australia - ResearchGate

View Source

Norfolk Island Water Quality Assessment - Squarespace, accessed August 4, 2025,

Direct Evidence Journal

Norfolk Island Water Quality Assessment - Squarespace

View Source

Salinity - Murray�darling Basin Authority

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Why test for electrical conductivity, acidity and alkalinity? - The Australian Museum, accessed July 13, 2025

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical & Subtropical Maritime Islands
Land Use Industrial & Infrastructure Use
Assessment Pristine Reference
Evidence Type DegradationThreshold

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 19 Mar 2026

Notes

At and above this level, salinization causes physiological stress and shifts in community composition.

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-TMI-IND-WEC family.