Understanding the behavior of impounded water is essential to the evaluation of any project involving streamflow regulation for water quality. Since 1962, the Engineering Activities Section of the Basic and Applied Sciences Program of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration has been studying this subject, as specified in amended P.L. 87‐660. The study presented in this article was one in a series, designed to investigate the influence of natural environmental factors on the nitrogen cycle. There have been many studies of natural environments, but few controlled studies to demonstrate the influence of environmental factors on the rate and extent of nitrification. Equipment and methods are discussed, along with typical nitrification patterns, seed concentration, ammonia nitrogen concentration, relative turbulence, nitrites and nitrates, organics, and bacterial enumeration.