The WaterBlitz began today Friday 20th September with nearly 400 people across the country set to get involved. Our citizen scientists will be taking samples from rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds and even a well or two over the coming days!
Water Institute director Prof Fiona Regan and member Dr Susan Hegarty were among the first involved with samples taken while they were out on the Liffey courtesy of City Kayaking.
They used the kits to test for nitrates and phosphates in the freshwater, which can be indicative of water quality issues. As well as this they recorded general observations about the sites they tested. The results were uploaded online – no further testing of the water was carried out.
The WaterBlitz is being run alongside events in London, Paris and Luxembourg and will allow us to directly compare water quality data collected at the same time across Europe. Following the event, we will use this data to create a report which can help inform decisions on water quality going forward. The data will give an excellent snapshot of water quality across the countries involved.
While registration for this year’s project has been closed, you can express interest in signing up for the WaterBlitz in 2020 and get to a look at this year’s report by clicking here.
