Averett University’s Environmental Science Students Train in Water Monitoring

September 28, 2020

This fall, Averett University and the Dan River Basin Association (DRBA) partnered to train environmental science students to become citizen water quality monitors.  The training included two parts – an introduction to the importance of water monitoring and hands-on training with sampling protocols and field data collection methods. 

The students will monitor over the next few months at a stream near Ballou Park, within walking distance from Averett University.  They will collect a sample of water from a stream on a monthly basis and take it back to the Averett lab to process.  The students are looking for the presence of E.coli in the waterway.  E.coli is a bacteria found in the intestines of warm blooded animals.  The presence of this bacteria in the stream indicates a recent sewage issue or animal waste contamination.

In addition to collecting the sample to test for E.coli, the newly trained monitors will also check the air and water temperature, pH, turbidity, and visual health of the stream and stream banks. 

While these students are monitoring a waterway for a class and a grade, dozens of DRBA Citizen Water Quality Monitor volunteers across the Dan River basin generously dedicate their time every single month to monitor a streamway in their community.  The monitoring of a stream over a long period of time has a better chance of showing spikes in E.coli contamination. 

To learn more about how to become a citizen water quality monitor, visit our website at https://www.danriver.org/programs/stewardship/citizen-monitoring.  Virtual trainings for Danville, Pittsylvania County, and Caswell County are being held in October 2020.  Registration is required and space is limited.