World Water Monitoring Day
World Water Monitoring Day™ is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local waterbodies
World Water Monitoring Day is offi cially celebrated on September 18. It was initially chosen to be a month later (October 18) to recognize the anniversary of the U.S. Clean Water Act, which was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1972 to restore and protect the country’s water resources. In 2009, the program introduce an extended monitoring period from March 22 until December 31 in order to accommodate groups that wish to monitor at other times during the year.
It’s easy and fun to participate in World Water Monitoring Day. Just visit the Web site to register your site and purchase a test kit. You can observe WWMD on any date of your choosing between March 22 and December 31. Reporting data to the program’s database allows you to share your experiences with others in your community and keep a yearly record of your monitoring test results. Data is accepted until December 31. In addition to monitoring your local waterway, consider organizing a trash clean up, going on a walk through your watershed or talking to a school group or scout troop about water pollution.
The primary goal of World Water Monitoring Day is to educate and engage citizens in the protection of the world’s water resources. Many people are unaware of the impact their behaviors have on the quality of their water resources. Conducting simple monitoring tests teaches participants about some of the most common indicators of water health and encourages further participation in more formal citizen monitoring efforts.
Visit the WWMD Website for more information or to order kits for this year
View the pictures of students from Ms. Claudia Bowlin’s Environmental Science class collect and analyze samples for WEF’s World Water Monitoring Day. They are testing water from Tyndall Creek in Benton using kits supplied by AWEA.
Photos