 World
Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) unites thousands of ordinary people in testing
their local freshwater site to assess the health of the world's water.
The
project
gives a snapshot of the status of lakes, rivers and streams all around
the world, including in the United Kingdom.
Between 18th
September and 18th October, water-monitoring groups, including
schoolchildren and others, tested water within four parameters -
dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature and turbidity (read about them here):
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Day
1 - Coy Pond Gardens |
Day
2 - Lower Gardens Bournemouth |
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Testing DO - L-R
above: Jerry, Gary, Nick, Andrea Ross (a Friend of
Central Gardens), Geoff (Friend of Coy Pond) and Phil
On Sunday the 10th October the newly formed Friends of Central Gardens, along with Nick
Shearer (Bournemouth council's Community Parks Officer) and Phil Jones
(Chairman of Friends of Coy Pond) came together at Coy Pond Gardens for
some 'cross-boundary' partnership working of their own.
Nick had arranged for three of his new Bournemouth 'Friends of'
group to
transplant species such as Yellow Flag Iris from the wetland area of
Central Gardens to the new wetland being created further upstream at
Bourne Pools - that's now the name for the works at the top end of Coy
Pond Gardens.
After a morning of planting and litter picking the
group sampled stream water to supply data for the World Water Monitoring
project.
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Water sampling - from
the back: Nick Shearer, Vickie, Kathryn, Robin, Daniel &
Ollie
On the
18th a group of students selected from Manorside Combined School
in Alderney, Poole met Sarah in Bournemouth's Lower Gardens with
their teacher, Mr Darch.
They
were joined by Angela Garcia from Bournemouth & West
Hampshire Water, Robin Mulford, an Aquarist from Bournemouth
Oceanarium, and Nick Shearer. Hattie, from the Echo,
turned up to take some photographs for the paper.
The
results from both days' testing (see far left-hand column)
will be entered into the WWMD
database.
Above: Vickie &
Kathryn testing DO under the watchful eyes of Mr Darch
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The test measures
four key indicators of water quality:
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Measures how many molecules of oxygen are in the
water as parts per million (ppm). Since oxygen is vital to fish and other aquatic life
(just as it is for people!), higher DO readings (8 or 9 ppm) support more
diverse species and a healthier ecosystem. Lack of DO (below
4 or 5 ppm) often
results in an absence of living things in the water.
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Measures how acidic or basic a liquid is. It is
measured on a scale from 0-14, where 0 is most acidic, 14 is most
basic, and a value of 7 is neutral. Natural waters with conditions
favourable for supporting life usually have a pH reading between
6.5 and 8.5.
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Measures the warmth or coldness of the water.
This indicator is important because it affects dissolved oxygen,
photosynthesis, and the food supply. Waters that are too hot or
too cold can have severe effects on fish and other aquatic life. |
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Impacts the water's clarity. Debris, sand, silt,
and other materials can make the water less clear. Greater
presence of such factors result in the water being more turbid.
Turbidity can impact the aquatic ecosystem by affecting
photosynthesis, respiration, and reproduction of aquatic life.
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Macroinvertebrates provide a living indicator of
the health of the water by counting the "bugs" that are
found in aquatic environments. Macroinvertebrates have different
levels of tolerance for pollutants and other factors that impact
the health of the water. By observing the benthic population and
classifying more or less tolerant species, a general observation
about the quality of the water can be made. These findings can
often be compared to the chemical/physical indicators to determine
overall health of the water at the sampling site.
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The London-based
International Water Association (IWA) and its partner organisation in
this project, America's Clean Water Foundation (ACWF), have established
a website enabling the test data to be collected and entered into a new
international database for global water monitoring. |
For
further information visit www.worldwatermonitoringday.org
Results
of last year's World Water Monitoring Day can be found at www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/results/03results.html
The
International Water Association (IWA) is a professional membership-based
organisation whose members collaborate to lead the development of
effective and sustainable approaches to water resource management.
IWA is a registered NPO (non-profit organisation) and collaborates with
The World Bank, The World Health Organisation as well as the main UN
agencies (UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO), dealing with water and sanitation on
projects of common interest. The IWA is a founder member of the World
Water Council and is involved in the Global Water Partnership and the
Collaborative Council on Water Supply and Sanitation.
More information at
www.iwahq.org.uk
America's
Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) is a not for profit, Washington DC-based
organisation that specialises in promoting public education, public
involvement, and technical exchange for clean water. Since its
creation in 1989, ACWF has hosted several international water summits
and a Youth Watershed Summit designed to encourage youth to become
engaged in clean water programs.
More information at www.acwf.org  |
