WQX User Call
September 22, 2022

There were approximately 31 participants on the call.

Agenda:

1.	WQX Project Status Report (15 mins)

•	WQX/WQXWeb performance/updates

•	WQX Monthly User Tip - Deeper dive on WQX domain updates.

•	WQX questions/comments

2.	WQP Status Report (10 mins)

•	WQP General Status Report

•	WQP questions/comments

3.	Open Discussion

•	Other topics/questions

Notes:

1. WQX Project Status Report (15 mins)

The Helpdesk support has been operating at normal status. Contact Us: Weekday hours of 8am
to 6pm EST. Email (wqx@epa.gov) Call 800-424-9067.

Developers successfully rolled out WQXWeb to the an Azure cloud environment, and have since
been working on tackling bugs and performance tuning. They have also successfully upgraded
WQX to Oracle 19c, and upgraded the Oracle provider. The roll out to Oracle 19c was completed
last week 9/17.

Developers are working on removing the threshold limit of 30k rows that WQX can process. This
has been coded, tested, in debug, but thinks it should be ready for next WQX rollout. Also: Batch
import bugs, updating GLENDA data in WQX, and performance tuning.

Recently reported bugs: WQXWeb allows import as sample collection equipment w/o method,
does not validate.

Questions?

WQX Tip of the Month: Deeper dive on WQX Domain Value Updates (See attached PDF slides)
Questions from Domain Update Presentation:

Ql: If a characteristic is marked retired, does that record import?

A: For a time, it will. When a Characteristic is first marked as ***retired***, it will validate via
the Characteristic Alias table. Eventually, a retired Characteristic will be fully deprecated and
throw an error on import. At that time, the user should have adopted the accepted name.

WQX User Call Notes - September 22, 2022

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Q2: Confirming my understanding here, and may be more on the WQP side: Old, previously
reported results under retired characteristics will still appear and be query-able under the
retired name and will not appear under the new?

A: Correct. Once submitted as valid, data will remain in the originally submitted condition. WQX
will not edit any existing data.

2.	WQP Status Report (10 mins)

There has not been much dev on WQP due to contract developer turnover. The WQP Team will
be meeting and training new staff.

Please do report any new bugs as we're moving to a new ticket manager. The WQP repository is
also moving to a new USGS held code repository.

It is the 10 year anniversary of Data Retrieval - there is going to be some outreach and
celebration of DR and updates sent out to its user community. We are looking for success stories
of your use of Data Retrieval. Please send them to Candice Hopkins chopkins(at)usgs.gov./

The new WQP Development team is beginning to on-board. Once up and running, they will be
continuing to develop the new data export profiles.

The WQP Team is also working on setting priorities for the new fiscal year. EPA and USGS teams
recently got together in-person for a WQP strategy session to identify new directions and
priorities for the portal. Some of the topics included sensor solutions and decreasing the time
between WQP refreshes from the WQX system.

3.	Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 12:33 PM.

The next meeting will be October 27th at 12:00 PM EST.

WQX User Call Notes - September 22, 2022

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WQX Domain Updates

Nuts and Bolts


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What are the WQX Domain Values?

ActivitvGroupTvpe (ZIP) I (XML1) I (CSV)

ActivitvMedia (ZIP) | (XML)| (CSV)

ActivitvMediaSubdivision (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

ActivitvRelativeDepth (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ActivitvTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

AddressTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

AliasTvpe (ZIP) | (XML)I | (CSV)

AnalvticalMethod (ZIP) I (XML)

AnalvticalMethodContext (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Assemblage (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Bioloaicallntent (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

CellForm (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

CellShape (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Characteristic (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

CharacteristicAlias (ZIP) | (XML)

CharacteristicGroup (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

CharacteristicWithPickList* (ZIP) | (XML)

Country (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

County (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

DetectionQuantitationLimitType (ZIP) |

(XML)I (CSV)

ElectronicAddressTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

FrequencvClassDescriptor (ZIP) | (XML)I
(CSV)

Gear Procedure Unit (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Habit (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Habitat Selection Method (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

HorizontalCollectionMethod (ZIP) |

(XML)I (CSV)

HorizontalCoordinateReferenceSvstemDatum
(ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Hvdroloaic Condition (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)
Hvdroloaic Event (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Local Aquifer (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Local Aquifer Context (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)
MeasureUnit (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)
MethodSpeciation (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)
MetricTvpeContext (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)
MonitorinqLocationType (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)
National Aquifer (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

NetTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Organization (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)
QAQCCharacteristicValidation (ZIP) | (XML) |

(CSV)

ReferenceLocationType (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

ResultDetectionCondition (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

ResultMeasureQualifier (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ResultMeasureQualifierDEPRECATED (ZIP) |
(XML)I (CSV)

ResultMeasureValuePickList* (ZIP) | (XML)

ResultSampleFraction (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ResultSamplinoPointTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ResultStatus (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ResultTemperatureBasis (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

ResultTimeBasis (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ResultValueTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ResultWeiohtBasis (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

SampleCollectionEquipment (ZIP) |

(XML)I (CSV)

SampleCollectionMethod (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

SampleCollectionMethodContext (ZIP) |

(XML)I (CSV)

SampleContainerColor (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)
SampleContainerType (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)
SampleTissueAnatomv (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

SamplinoDesiqnTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

State (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

StatisticalBase (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Target Count (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Taxon (ZIP) I (XML)

TaxonAlias (ZIP) | (XML)

TaxonGroup (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

TaxonRank (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

TelephoneNumberTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

TimeZone (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

ThermalPreservativeUsed (ZIP) | (XML)I (CSV)

ToxicitvTestTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Tribe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

VerticalCollectionMethod (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

VerticalCoordinateReferenceSvstemDatum
(ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

Voltinism (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

WellFormationTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)

WellTvpe (ZIP) I (XML)I (CSV)


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Who Performs the Updates?

•	Most of the domain updates are handled manually by the WQX Team

•	Users send a request to WQX@epa.gov with the following information:

•	Description

•	Definitions

•	Reference

•	Identifiers: ITIS, SRS, CAS, etc.

•	"Domain values" maintained by the submitter:

•	Locations

•	Projects

•	SampleCollectionMethod


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How are updates performed?

•	EPA WQX staff update the domain tables within WQXWeb directly

•	Domain values are immediately published to the domain service on
the EPA website

•	Requirements (schema validation, Characteristic requirements, etc.)
are updated immediately. A submission made one day can be invalid
the next.

•	EPA regularly consumes updated information to update our domain
tables (NEMI, SRS, ITIS)


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Syncing with USGS

•	We are actively registering USGS domain values

•	We are also correcting domain values based on their advice - such as
Characteristic Group assignments

•	Registering their list as aliases to assist in submission


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Why did my submission fail?

Any update made to the domain tables will take effect immediately

If we map an incorrect submission to an alias, then the submitter
never corrects their submission

Updates may also be made to schema validation requirements for the
Characteristics:

• Copy of CHARACTERISTIC CSV

Sample Fraction
Required

Analytical Method
Required

Method Speciation
Required

Pick List

N

N

N

Y

Characteristic

15609

Hydrolyzable phosphorus plus orthophosphate***retired***use Phosphorus,
hvdrolvzable plus orthophosphate

Characteristic

1420 Nitrogen-15/14 ratio ***retired*** use Nitrogen-15/Nitrogen-14 ratio

Characteristic

3715 Nitrogen Delta 15 ***retired*** use Nitrogen-15/Nitrogen-14 ratio

Characteristic

3691 Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen/Total Phosphorus ratio

Characteristic

2267 Dissolved inorganic nitrogen/soluble reactive phosphorus ratio

Characteristic

4702 Nitrogen/Phosphorus molar ratio

Characteristic

2962 Phosphate-phosphorus ***retired*** use Total Phosphorus, mixed forms

Characteristic

1415 Inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and nitrite) ***retired***use Nitrate + Nitrite

Characteristic

4703 Inorganic nitrogen (ammonia, nitrate and nitrite)***retired***use Inorganic nitrogen (N02, N03, & NH3)

Characteristic

15585 Inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and nitrite and ammonia)***retired***use Inorganic nitrogen (N02, N03, & NH3)

Characteristic

15586 Inorganic nitrogen***retired***use Inorganic nitrogen (N02, N03, & NH3)


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Characteristics: Standard, Synonym, Retired

•	As we register or maintain Characteristics, we assign them a
validation status in the Characteristic table (Accepted or Deprecated)

•	We also update the Characteristic_Alias table where we register
acceptable Synonyms (that validate), the harmonized WQX standard,
retired Characteristics, and other synonym values - SRS, TSN, CAS,
etc.

•CharacteristicAlias (ZIP) | (XML)


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