BBC reports on Sullied Sediments volunteer water sampling campaign
In August, the Sullied Sediments team and a group of volunteers associated with Pocklington Canal met with BBC Look North's Environment Correspondent, Paul Murphy, to demonstrate how volunteers are being trained to take water samples and share their findings with the project. Volunteers are equipped with paper devices that have been specially designed to measure phosphate levels in river water samples. The results of each device are sent using a bespoke app called River Dip, which can be downloaded for free from any app store. The sampling data that the volunteers are gathering all adds to a vast repository of information that is helping researchers to better understand how healthy our waterways are and inform how they are managed. All of the volunteer data is available online, a link to which has been provided in the Resources section of our website: https://northsearegion.eu/sullied-sediments/tools-and-resources/
The BBC's coverage of the Sullied Sediments volunteer programme conveys how a large, multi-national project can have an impact at the local level. Not only are we amassing data about water quality from areas that are not routinely monitored, we are also raising awareness about the importance of valuing and caring for our local waterways and encouraging people to get outdoors and volunteer. So, the benefits are myriad.
If you would like to watch the BBC's story on our volunteer activity, please follow the link below and let us know what you think: