Armed with water tests, SA students tackle eco-anxiety
After wading back to the river bank, Downsborough poured her findings into a container to identify the different macroinvertebrates with the help of her students.
Each organism was given a unique score under the mini stream assessment scoring system (miniSASS) to help determine the water quality. The final results will be uploaded to an online map to identify polluted sites.
Downsborough and her team also encourage citizen scientists to try out other water testing kits, such as Freshwater Watch and WaterCAN, which test for a range of pollutants such as excessive nitrates and phosphates.
Findings can be uploaded online to be used by activists to rally for government action.
In April, WaterCAN, alongside other civil society organisations, launched a report on Durban's Umbilo River that revealed pollution, including high levels of E coli bacteria.
They called for urgent infrastructure repairs based on their findings.
'Civil society must continue to push for accountability, create awareness in communities and build action through citizen science,' the report said.
The eThekwini municipal water and sanitation department acknowledged receipt of questions regarding the report, but did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
GroundTruth, an environmental consulting company that helped develop the miniSASS kit, trains citizen scientists including more than 1,000 youth in KwaZulu-Natal.
Downsborough and Stippel presented their research on public participation at the Citizen Science for Water Quality Conference in the Netherlands in early June. Next year, the IIE MSA water monitoring initiative will be expanded more widely across campuses and schools.
'Writing papers is one way to have impact, but bringing students outdoors to the river, bringing our office out to the river, is very rewarding,' Downsborough said.
Thomson Reuters Foundation
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