Steps to follow to Import results of query into a Spreadsheet
These are the instructions for importing into Microsoft Excel.
Importing into another spreadsheet or database should be similar.
  1. Select the Import to Spreadsheet on the previous page
  2. Develop the remainder of the query as desired and click on Submit button
  3. On the page with the title "CLEARINGHOUSE WATER QUALITY DATA QUERY RESULTS", select "File" and then "Save As..."
  4. Save file in the location you desire with the extension of ".txt"
  5. Open Spreadsheet program and select "File" and "Open" .
  6. Go to the folder you saved the ".txt" file in and change "Type of Files" from the default selection to "Text Files".
  7. Select the correct file and click on the "Open" button
  8. Select the "Delimited" option
  9. You will want to begin with the line starting "Clearinghouse#|Township|" etc. so you will need to change the starting line. This will depend on your query options but should start around line 15.
  10. Click on the "Next" button
  11. Click the "Other" option and put in "|" in the box next to it
  12. Click the "Next" button
  13. Move to the column titled "ScreenDepth" and change the "Column Data Format" from "General" to "Text". Follow the same procedure to change the column data formats for the “Concentration” and “ReportingLimit” columns from "General" to "Text".
  14. Click "Finish".
  15. The concentration and reporting limit fields are text fields so that significant digit information is retained. However, in order to work with the concentrations as numbers instead of text, it is necessary to convert them to numbers. The following steps are suggested for the conversion. (Other versions of Excel may require a different method of converting text to numeric values.)
  16. Insert two columns into the Excel worksheet adjacent to the “Concentration” column.
  17. Copy the text concentration column into one of the new columns. This will retain the text version with its information on significant digits.
  18. In one of the cells of the second inserted column, type the number 1.
  19. Select the cell with the "1" and copy it.
  20. Select the column containing the copied concentrations.
  21. On the "Edit" menu, click "Paste Special", then under "Operation", click "Multiply".
  22. Click "OK".
  23. The column is now numeric, but the numbers remain aligned at the left of the cells. It may be formatted to change its appearance. On the "Format" menu, click "Cells", select the "Alignment" tab, and change the horizontal alignment to "Right". This still retains the significant digit information. (On the “Format-Cells-Number” tab, “Text” will still be highlighted, even though the column is now numeric. Changing the format to "Number" will cause the number of digits following the decimal point to be converted to whatever number of decimal places is selected. Other manipulations of the numeric concentration values may also result in loss of the significant digit information in the format. (The text version that was retained in step 17 provides significant digit information.)
  24. Delete the column containing the “1” from step 18. It is no longer needed.
  25. To save the file in Excel format, on the “File” menu, click “Save As”. In the drop-down box labeled “Save as type”, select “Microsoft Excel Workbook”. Change the file name in the “File name” drop-down box if desired. Click “Save”.


Quality Assessment Levels
Nitrate Data
  LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 5
Well location ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum
Well characteristics use, depth use, depth use, depth use, depth, screened interval monitoring well, depth, screened interval
Sampling procedure & sample preservation meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method
Analytical method not an EPA- accepted method an EPA- accepted method an EPA- accepted method an EPA- accepted method best available method specific for analyte
Field QC none none field duplicates (FD) FD, equipment blanks FD, equipment blanks
Laboratory QC cross-checks using an EPA- accepted method; participation in performance evaluation studies less than level 3 laboratory duplicates, reagent blanks, fortified blanks, quality control samples laboratory duplicates, reagent blanks, fortified blanks, quality control samples, lab fortified matrix samples laboratory duplicates, reagent blanks, fortified blanks, quality control samples, lab fortified matrix samples

Pesticide Data
  LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 5
Well location ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum ¼ section at minimum
Well characteristics use, depth use, depth use, depth use, depth, screened interval monitoring well, depth, screened interval
Sampling procedure & sample preservation meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method meets standard well purging guidelines and collection, handling, and preservation procedures given in method
Analytical method not an EPA-accepted qualitative and quantitative method an EPA- accepted method an EPA- accepted method a GC/MS EPA-accepted method best available method specific for analyte
Field QC none none field duplicates (FD) FD, equipment blanks FD, equipment blanks
Laboratory QC cross-checks using an EPA- accepted method; participation in performance evaluation studies less than level 3 laboratory duplicates and the minimum QC specified in method laboratory duplicates and the minimum QC specified in method laboratory duplicates and the minimum QC specified in method

Here is an RTF version of the Quality Assessment Levels that can be imported into a word processor or spreadsheet program.