Water samples for steroid analysis were collected in 1 L con¬tainers and immediately placed on ice water, transported to the laboratory and stored at -20 c. Additional water samples (lOmL) were taken (Fig. 1), placed on ice water and transported to the
laboratory for Total Ammonia-Nitrogen (TA-N), Nitrite-N, Nitrate- N and Orthophosphate-P analysis using a SAN autoanalyzer (Skalar, The Netherlands). Temperature, pH, and conductivity were mea¬sured at the sampling sites using portable meters or provided by the facilities managers. Nitrile gloves were used during all water sampling and processing activities to prevent contamination with steroids