Your Stories
- Argentina
- Canada
- China
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Namibia
- Nigeria
- Poland
- Singapore
- Spain
- Swaziland
- United Kingdom
- United States
Argentina
La reserva Natural Otamendi dependiente de la Administración de Parques Nacionales, está ubicada en el Partido de Campana, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. El 90% de su superficie corresponde a un humedal de agua dulce, que tiene relación en forma directa con las poblaciones vecinas por cursos de agua tales como ríos, arroyos y canalizaciones, por este motivo consideramos de gran imporancia realizar esta acividad con las comunidades educativas vecinas y de esta forma registrar la calidad de los mismos a lo largo del tiempo. Nos sumamos a esta iniciativa con cuatro sitios de monitoreo. Read more.
Canada
The time to start listening to your neighbours is now! I’m not talking about the Smiths or the Joneses. I’m talking about your Benthic Macro Invertebrate (BMI) neighbours. BMI’s include insects, worms and other “bugs” that live in the substrate of your local bodies of water, and once found, they tell tales of the water’s health. Are you listening?
Citizens' Environment Watch (CEW), a non-profit environmental organization based in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), has been listening to BMIs since 2000 and they have discovered many valuable lessons. Born out of a decline in government water quality inspection agencies and funding programs, CEW works to provide education, equipment, and support for community-based ecological monitoring and stewardship programs in hopes to strengthen both water quality and awareness across the GTA and beyond.
This past Spring and Fall (including World Water Monitoring Day), groups of teachers and students have been out in the field collecting viable BMI data on the water quality of sections of GTA watersheds. In the field, CEW staff witness the greatest learning experience of all: community environmental action stems from empowered citizens working for something they love, know and want to protect!
Currently, the GTA is nestled amongst a web of 35 interconnecting water systems that flow down from the headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine. These 35 water systems make-up approximately 5 great watersheds: the Humber, the Credit, the Don, the Rouge and the Duffins. As populations increase across the GTA, so does development – a great threat to local wetland habitats, biodiversity and water quality. Therefore, it is a critical time for community-based monitoring organizations to increase teaching and learning about local ecosystems. Maintaining a sustained collection of accurate and defensible scientific data about local ecosystem health is critical to informing community decision-making and urban-planning processes.
China
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) and the 40th anniversary of the commissioning of the Plover Cove Reservoir, IWAHK organized the World Water Monitoring Day ceremony in Hong Kong at this scenic spot on October 14. The Water Supplies Department of HKSAR aimed to enhance public awareness of clean water resources and offer an opportunity for students to review the history of the reservoir. This is the fourth consecutive year that IWAHK has organized World Water Monitoring Day in Hong Kong to promote the importance of water conservation and water resources to students.
About 250 students from 30 secondary schools conducted testing on the quality of Hong Kong's water resources. Under the guidance of a chemist from the Water Supplies Department, the students used WWMD kits to conduct tests on water samples taken from the Plover Cove Reservoir. The event was co-hosted by the Education Bureau, Environmental Protection Department and Drainage Services Department of HKSAR. Mrs. Carrie Lam, the Secretary for Development of HKSAR, officiated at the ceremony.
Indonesia
On December 9, FORKAMI (Indonesian Communication Forum for Drinking Water Quality Management) together with USAID’s Environmental Services Program (ESP-USAID), PAM Lyonesse Jaya, PT. Thames PAM Jaya and WATER (Water & Sanitation Network) celebrated World Water Monitoring Day on the Kalimalang River along with hundreds of students and other community stakeholders.
Mentoring the community on water quality aspects is part of a series of activities designed to develop awareness of the importance of monitoring local water resources and catchments. In conjunction with the monitoring activity, three training series focusing on environmental leadership were held from September until December.
During the WWMD celebration, students were grouped and led by field facilitators (FORKAMI’s volunteers) in the collection of water samples. By using the WWMD test kit, each student took a turn measuring the four basic parameters—pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and turbidity. The students also searched for macroinvertebrates (aquatic insects). Their findings (shrimp, small fishes, snails) were all indications of good water quality. While the students conducted the monitoring tests, other participants followed up their results from the previous training series and participated in team-building games.
The event also provided an opportunity for water conservation and technology exhibits and other materials related to the water conservation campaign. Television and newspaper journalists also took part by providing media coverage.
With the success of the 2007 World Water Monitoring Day event, FORKAMI and its partners look forward to planning the next WWMD in Indonesia.
Iran
Sikhoran and Roudan Rivers In this project students from Bandar Abbas Azad University (Flora Mohamadizade,Marzie Haj Keramadini, Abbas Barkhordari, Shadi Khatami, Maria Mohamadizade, Parviz Tavakoli) took part. Hormozgan province covering an area of 68,476 km2 is located southern Iran, north of the Persian Gulf. The main part of the province is covered by mountainous regions. The Zagross mountain range extends from northeast to southeast and terminates to lime and sandy hills, highlands, as well as coastal lowlands, parallel to the Persian Gulf and Omman sea. Roudan and Sikhoran are an ancient geographical region of this province.
Karaj River The measurements were carried out in a prt of the Karaj River in Gachsar to Chaloos road (about 6 kilometers after Karaj) on a sunny day.
Jagerood River In this project, 10 students (Atena Shirdastian, Shiva Mahdaviseresht, Noshad Khosravi, Golnoosh Azarbakhsh, Yasaman Mehrabi, Orkide Olang, Mahsa Kave, Negin Amini, Farimah Ramezanpoor, Niloofar Keramati, team leader: Dina Izadi) took part from Aboureihan complex.
Namibia
Namibia is one of the driest countries in the world. It is situated in Southern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean. About 1.9 million inhabitants live in an area of 824,000 km2. Deserts or desert-like landscapes occupy much of the country (the Namib Desert along the Western Coast and Kalahari in the East). In North Central Namibia, the famous Etosha Pan forms a closed inland basin, occasionally provided with rainwater through the Cuvelai drainage system. Namibia is an arid to semi-arid country—evaporation rates greatly exceed the precipitation rates.
With a situation such as this, all-season (perennial) rivers are only found along the borders—Kunene, Kavango, Zambezi in the North and Oranje in the South. Ephemeral rivers are found inland and runoff occurs as direct response to heavy rainfall. During the rainy season, from October to April, these rivers transport water for a variable amount of time—for some hours, some days or some weeks. In some years, there is not enough water or runoff to make the rivers flow.
Rainfall predictions are always a hot topic. Rainfall events are happy moments—nobody would refer to them as “bad weather”!
Namibians participated in World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) for the first time in 2007. Fifty students, between the ages of 11 and 13, from Deutsche Höhere Private School in Windhoek went out to discover Avis Dam east of the city. Dams filled with rainwater from last rainy season are the only surface water bodies that can be visited in the months of September and October, which represent the end of the dry season.
At Avis Dam these fifth-grade students accompanied by two teachers and a geologist of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry tested five basic indicators of water quality. They used the WWMD test kits to look at dissolved oxygen, acidity (pH), temperature and turbidity.
Nigeria
Awka
The Department of Geological Sciences of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria joined the rest of the world in monitoring how some surface waters can support aquatic life. The goal is to increase public awareness and involvement in the protection of water quality around the world. This event is coordinated by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the International Water Association (IWA), which donated the test kits for the monitoring.
In Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, this event took place on October 26. Before embarking on the event, the test kits were calibrated and the staff in the Department of Geological Sciences practiced the use of the instruments in the laboratory. This was made possible by the manual attached with the kits. The whole exercise was properly conducted in-house and department staff was acquainted with the procedures.
A total of 240 people, comprising 232 students and eight university staff members, participated in the exercise. For a better experience, the participants were divided into four groups with two staff heading each group. Four parameters were monitored at each site. These parameters were: dissolved oxygen (DO), pH (acidity/alkalinity), turbidity (clarity) and temperature.
Edo State
Ikpoba River is a fourth order stream situated within the rainforest belt of Edo State, southern Nigeria. The river rises from the Ishan Plateau in the northern part and flows in a south westerly direction in a steeply incised valley and through sandy areas before passing through Benin City and joining the Ossiomo River. Read more.
Poland
WWMD in Poland was organized by ANIMEX Group, part of the Smithfield Group, on September 18. Events took place simultaneously in eight cities where ANIMEX plants are located—Szczecin Dabie, Morliny, Iława, Suwałki, Ełk, Starachowice, Opole and Dębica.
The events lasted between two and four hours with 17-80 people in attendance at each site. Most of the participants were students from local secondary schools who were accompanied by their teachers. A total of 272 students participated. In addition to the school groups, representatives from the various ANIMEX facilities, local authorities, media and other observers attended the WWMD festivities.
Each event began with a welcoming message to guests delivered by a local dignitary. As part of the message, participants were introduced to World Water Monitoring Day, the role of Smithfield Foods as a primary sponsor of the program and the goal of ANIMEX Group to propagate water cleanliness and good environmental stewardship.
The students at each plant were given a lecture and instruction by a representative from a local environmental protection agency such as the Province Environment Protection Inspectorates and the Wigry National Park in Suwałki. Following a demonstration, the participants were able to tests their own samples.
”The students were very pleased that they had a chance to [conduct] the research themselves,” said Jerzy Żygis, environmental manager for ANIMEX.
Following the monitoring activity, students completed an ecological quiz. ANIMEX Group provided prizes for the high scores, which included small gifts and certificates. To conclude each event, participants were treated to a hot snack and beverages.
Singapore
Singapore participated in WWMD for the third year under a joint program initiated by the Environmental Engineering Society of Singapore (EESS), WaterWays Watch Society (WWS) and the PUB, Singapore’s national water agency.
Over a period of two months, groups of two to 12 students and teachers from primary schools (for the first time under this program), secondary schools and polytechnics, together with volunteers and staff from the EESS, WWS and PUB collected water samples from eleven water bodies around Singapore. Armed with the WWMD test kits, the participants collected the water from areas like the Kallang Basin, reservoirs and rivers. A total of 35 locations were surveyed.
For Singapore, such a partnership between a government organization, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions served to nurture ownership among young Singaporeans and encourage everyone to be guardians of the country’s water, which will ensure the sustainability of our precious water resources.
Spain
WEF Member Association ADECAGUA (Asociación para la Defensa de la Calidad de las Aguas) was a proud partner of World Water Monitoring Day for the first time in 2007. Between September 18 and December 10, ADECAGUA organized monitoring activities all over Spain with the financial and technical support of the country’s Ministry of Environment.
For nearly three months, 2,000 volunteers participated in WWMD with ADECAGUA. Participating groups included: 35 associations, 34 schools, eight town and city councils, four universities and two environmental centers. A total of 395 test kits were distributed.
Over 200 sites were monitored throughout the country, mainly near Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. At each site, samples were tested for temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. In some cases biological analyses were performed by skilled specialists.
In 2007, Spain ranked second among all participating countries for the number of WWMD participants. ADECAGUA plans to continue this effort in 2008 with some refinements to program materials.
ADECAGUA expresses its gratitude to the Ministry of Environment for its technical and financial support of this tremendous first effort and hopes that these activities have made hundred of people aware of the importance of their local water bodies.
Swaziland
On September 18, Swaziland Water Services Corporation’s (SWSC) management, along with representatives from the Country Water Project Swaziland and the Water Resources Branch under the Swazi Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, participated in World Water Monitoring Day. Visited sites included the Mzimnene River (at Nhlambeni), Mkhondvo River, Mkhondvo River (Mahamba Gorge) and Mahamba Gorge Spring. A total of 46 participants took part in the testing of water from the various sites.
United Kingdom
On 3rd November 2007, for the WWMD event, Sarah Ward, a PhD student at the University of Exeter, and her partner, Mark Crossland, measured various water quality parameters (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity) at two sites on the River Otter, in Devon in the UK.
The first site was not far from where the river meets the sea and the second was further inland, close to a mill which still has a very nice smelling bakery next to it! Using a kit supplied by the International Water Association, it was discovered that the water quality in the River Otter is very good. In addition to the quality parameters, some freshwater trout were identified--a sure sign that the river is in good health.
United States
Arizona
Students from South Pointe High School joined staff at Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area for World Water Monitoring Day. City Councilman Michael Johnson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander and District Engineer Colonel Thomas H. Magness as well as CH2M HILL Vice President Tom Searle welcomed attendees, thanking them for their support of important water quality issues and demonstrating responsible environmental stewardship.
Students had the opportunity to perform basic water monitoring tests at educational stations, measuring pH, temperature, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen. Project Wet, who's mission is to reach children, parents, educators, and communities of the world with water education, taught students how to test for water quality using macroinvertebrates as their baseline. They also demonstrated , with a hands on model, how a watershed works. Phoenix Water Services Department came with their lab truck and showed how well water is monitored to insure water quality. The day was a huge success and much goes to the volunteers. Watch the video on YouTube.
California
Chula Vista
San Diego Coastkeeper and the San Diego Citizen Watershed Monitoring Consortium coordinated their 6th Annual World Water Monitoring Day celebration on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at the Chula Vista Nature Center in Chula Vista, California.
“World Water Monitoring Day allows students to join together and take a hands-on approach to understanding the value of clean water for people, plants and wildlife”, said Karen Franz, Watershed Monitoring Program Director, “the data collected today are shared with other students around the world—illustrating that this is an issue of international significance for which we are all responsible.”
World Water Monitoring Day featured water quality monitoring activities for approximately 200 school children from San Diego, Baja California, Mexico and Poland. Students from High Tech High Chula Vista, Perkins Elementary, Instituto Juan Diego and Instituto Defensores de Baja California in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico and Polish high schools Zygmunta Sajny High School and Jasinksi High School participated in today’s World Water Monitoring Day activities.
Students participated in a number of hands-on water education activities including rotating between various water monitoring stations with San Diego Coastkeeper, Bioassessment, Edible Aquifer, Green Machine, San Diego County of Education Splash Lab, Best Management Practices and the Chula Vista Nature Center. In addition, students from San Diego, Tijuana, Mexico, Baja California, Mexico and Poland conducted water monitoring from San Diego Coastkeeper’s new boat—Clean Sweep. Their water monitoring results were combined with other students monitoring in San Diego, China, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“The international students have had the opportunity to explore the Chula Vista Bayfront and to test the Bay’s water. By doing this, they embody the right and responsibility that each one of us has to be stewards of our environment,” said San Diego Coastkeeper Executive Director Bruce Reznik.
“This year we celebrated public stewardship of water quality and conservation, the importance of clean water in the San Diego Region and educating our youth on watershed protection and the value of World Water Monitoring Day.”
Santa Rosa
As part of World Water Monitoring Day on October 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with the city of Santa Rosa, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, and Russian Riverkeeper, sampled five areas along Colgan Creek -- a creek with a history of serious pollution from urban runoff.
Colgan Creek is a typical urban creek that flows about seven miles through residential areas, construction sites, commercial and industrial areas before joining with the Russian River, which is home to three endangered species of salmon and is a major source of drinking water.
“Today’s effort is great example of how volunteers, the Riverkeeper, the city of Santa Rosa, the regional board and the EPA can work together to reduce polluted runoff to Colgan Creek,” said Catherine Kuhlman, the associate director for the Water Division for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “Everyone who lives, works, or even drives through here, contributes pollutants to this creek, which is why it will take all of us to clean it up.”
Today’s sampling will analyze temperature, pH, specific conductivity, turbidity, total suspended solids, ortho-phosphate, nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia, lead, copper, zinc, Diazinon (a pesticide), total and E. coli bacteria and enterococcus. The sampling collection stations were located to isolate various land uses, such as residential, commercial, retail and mixed land uses located on Colgan Creek.
Results from the monitoring event and from the first flush sampling -- or first rain of the season -- will help the city better target its efforts to clean up the creek. Samples will be analyzed by the EPA regional lab. A summary report detailing today’s water quality results will be available in early January 2008.
The city of Santa Rosa, in response to water tests that indicated higher levels of toxicity in Colgan Creek when compared with other city creeks, has worked for two years to investigate possible sources of pollution and conducted outreach to residents living along the creek to inform them of water quality issues and how they can prevent pollution from reaching the creek.
Since 2002, local volunteers and regional board staff have sampled water quality during the first flush in the Russian River. Colgan Creek has been sampled extensively both during first flush and monthly.
Urban run-off is one the largest sources of pollutants that impair beneficial uses. Storm water monitoring helps establish baselines for pollutants, data trends, identify hotspots for later follow-up and provides feedback on current and future runoff control efforts.
Adopted by Water Environment Federation in July 2006, World Water Monitoring Day is an international outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world. Held annually between September 18 and October 18, the program engages communities in monitoring the condition of local rivers, streams, estuaries and other water bodies. Since its inception in 2002, more than 80,000 people have participated in 50 countries.
Connecticut
John Reed, head of the science department at Crosby High School in Waterbury, Conn., is leading efforts to educate students about what they can do to protect their local environment. Approximately 20 students visited Hancock Brook as part of Reed’s AP Environment class to collect water samples and test them for key water quality indicators.
A number of the students collected data that was posted online and then shared with the world through the World Water Monitoring Day Web site. Waterbury’s Department of Public Works, in conjunction with environmental consulting firm Woodard & Curran’s Cheshire office, sponsored the sampling kits used by the students.
“Through this effort these students are learning about the watersheds in which they live, how watersheds work, and how protecting their waters can have beneficial impacts downstream,” said Woodard & Curran Vice President Jay Sheehan, P.E.
Georgia
On a Saturday morning in mid-September, more than 40 of Bobbye Hager's fifth grade students from Kedron Elementary School gathered at Line Creek in Peachtree City, Georgia for water monitoring.The students were joined by younger and older siblings as well as parents and the assistant principal.
The students conducted the various water quality tests quite efficiently and then moved on to finding macroinvertebrates. Using charts to identify their finds, their endeavors were rewarded by finding the insect larvae that were indicators of good water quality. The students who couldn't attend because of previous commitments want to have another testing day, this time on a Sunday, so they can attend.
Illinois
On September 19, Girl Scout Troop 2596 visited the McHenry Lock and Dam in McHenry, Ill. to monitor the Fox River. Along with monitoring, the scouts were led on a private tour of the lock and dam facility by Locktender Jeff Thompson. When built in 1966, there was to be a series of locks leading all the way to the Mississippi River. After building this particular lock, the state ran out of money and abandoned the project, Thompson explained. Over 10,000 boats travel through the locks each year.
"Many tests are run each day at the locks for the National Weather service. It was a very informative place to do our water monitoring," said Troop Leader Deb Guzzardo.
Indiana
Knapp Elementary School fourth graders got a chance to get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty testing water samples and learning about water quality with chemist, during a field trip to Striebel Pond Flood Control Facility.
Michigan City Sanitary District Chemist Kathleen Janatik, who is also a volunteer for the Indiana Water Environment Association Public Education, set up a temporary lab under a pavilion and mentored 70 students on the water cycle, saving water, from rain to drain, what is wastewater and bugs-microscopic organisms lecture and basic directions for use of the water monitoring kits. Students were grouped into teams, choosing their own team name, proceeded to march ¾ mile to the small bridge sampling site at Striebel Pond. Each student had a part in the job of collecting the water sample.
Once they returned to the make-shift-field laboratory each team completed testing for pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, and Turbidity. Each team documented their data in their booklet. Jodi Wilson, their teacher, will assist students to report their findings online at the World Water Monitoring Day website.
Michigan
An Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher recently led two students through a monitoring exercise after school at Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Teacher Kathy Kitzmann and students Angela Haddad and Chantel Morey collected samples from a stream that runs through the school’s property. The trio conducted temperature and turbidity tests onsite and then brought a sample into the school’s chemistry lab where it was tested for pH and dissolved oxygen.
After collecting the water samples, both girls commented that they were surprised at how clear the water was. "It looked dirty when we collected it but was really very clear," commented Morey.
"The water was colder than I thought it would be," added Haddad.
Based on these basic tests, Kitzmann indicated that the group was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the water in this small stream. “Although only two students were involved, I think they felt positively about the experience and I would venture to say that we would like to do it again next year, “ Kitzmann said.
Mercy High School, a Catholic college preparatory school for young women, fosters spiritual, intellectual, moral, physical, and cultural development. Enriched by students from diverse backgrounds, Mercy High nurtures compassionate leaders committed to addressing human needs, working for justice and serving the poor. Mercy is proud to educate women who make a difference from over 60 metropolitan Detroit communities.
Ohio
Twenty-seven Girl Scouts from the Howland Service Unit in Trumbull County, Ohio, conducted water quality monitoring in a tributary of the Mosquito Creek Reservoir as part of Make a Difference Day on September 26.
“It’s important to teach the girls science and stewardship of our watershed, especially in Ohio, where over 90 percent of our wetlands have been drained or developed,” said Sally Ruiz Anthony, leader of Brownie Troop 802.
Kelly Hardval, education coordinator for Trumbull County Soil & Water Conservation District, joined the scouts with a tabletop model of a watershed. The Brownies learned about a watershed, water pollutants and their sources, important indicators of water health and tips for protecting and conserving our water resources.
The scouts tested the tributary’s water for pH, temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen content. “This water is healthy for supporting life,” said Adelaide White, a first-grader at Howland Glen.
The scouts’ results indicated ideal conditions for plants and animals, as the capture of a couple lively frogs confirmed. Results were reported to the Water Environment Federation as part of World Water Monitoring Day.
The Brownie Girl Scouts of Troop 802 range in age from five to ten years. They have adopted the Trumbull County watershed as part of a three-year EPA Planet Protectors program focusing on water issues during 2007. They have also learned about the water cycle, water reservoirs, drinking water treatment, the U.S. Clean Water Act and conservation.
Pennsylvania
Nineteen Girl Scout troops with scouts ranging in age from Daisies (kindergarten) through high school participated in North Park Outdoor Skills Day in Wexford, Pa. on September 29. Ninety-two girls and 34 adults participated in the event.
Not only did the scouts fulfill all requirements for their Water Drop Patch, they also earned other Girl Scout badges such as Make the World a Better Place (Daisy); Eco-Action (Brownie/Junior) , From Shore to Sea (Cadette/Senior). The girls had the opportunity to kayak, rowboat, use compass skills and hike around the park as they enjoyed the beautiful day.
All troops conducted water testing for World Water Monitoring Day, learned about the benefits of wetlands and went on a scavenger hunt to identify typical species of plants and animals in the park wetlands. They performed a “spongy wetlands” experiment that illustrated what happens to our community when wetlands are destroyed.
Older Junior and Cadette/Senior scouts taught the younger scouts about environmental issues, playing the “web of life” game or demonstrating the water cycle. The older scouts also designed posters that highlighted the importance of maintaining our wetlands to post in the park for other visitors. All 92 scouts participated in a lake clean-up project by collecting trash, fishing line and refuse left by careless fishermen and park visitors.
Wyoming
One hundred and seventy-two students from Saratoga Elementary and Saratoga Middle High School (Saratoga, Wyo.) participated in World Water Monitoring Day through the Saratoga-Encampment-Rawlins (SER) Conservation District. First through fifth grades tested water at Brush Creek in the Snowy Range of the Medicine Bow National Forest and sixth to 12th grades tested water in the North Platte River at Veteran's Island located in the town of Saratoga. High school students included those enrolled in chemistry, physics and biology. This is the fifth year the SER Conservation District has worked with area school students.