We would like to invite you and your community to take part in this spring’s Thames WaterBlitz event.
This WaterBlitz will be the fourth such event. In all, the events have successfully engaged with several hundred residents across the Thames catchment, from school groups to general members of the public to carry out simple tests of water quality. The results have highlighted that a number of water bodies, particularly rivers and streams have elevated nutrient concentrations (nitrate or phosphate) putting these ecosystems at risk of eutrophication.
On the other hand we are identifying streams and ponds that are refuges of clean water. These are particularly small streams high up in the catchment or isolated ponds. The repeat samples are allowing us to better understand ponds or lakes, or stretches of flowing water that are consistently clean or potential pollution sources. In total volunteers have so far collected nearly 1000 measurements. Continued Thames WaterBlitz efforts complements monitoring by the Environment Agency by providing information from areas that would otherwise not be monitored.
By following this link you will be able to find further information and results from previous Thames WaterBlitz events where we have partnered with Wild Oxfordshire and the Freshwater Habitats trust (amongst others).