Nitrogen, ammonia (NH 3), is very toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. At 0.06 milligrams of ammonia per liter water (mg/L), fish can suffer gill damage. When levels increase to about 0.2mg/L fih such as trout begin to die, and when ammonia levels reach 2.0 mg/L fish that are more tolerant to ammonia begin to die. An ammonia level of 0.01 mg/L indicates polluted water. If you look at the above graph almost all of the points are above 0.01 mg/L indicating that the Haw River is polluted.

The presence of fecal coliform in water indicated the presence of human or animal waste. North Carolina water quality standards state that fecal coliform counts that exceed a geometeric mean of 200/100 ml from at least 5 samples during a 30 day period are contaminated. Furthermore fecal coliform is not to exceed 400/100 ml in more than 20 percent of the samples tested during those 30 days. The above graph indicates that there are multiple points which exceed both divisions of the fecal coliform standards.