Have a Scientific Test of Your Water
Find an EPA-certified laboratory and learn what labs have to do in order to become certified.
Test the Waters Yourself
The USGS web site has noted that inexpensive EarthEcho Water Challenge Test Kits are available from World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD).
Teachers and water-science enthusiasts: with these kits, you can perform tests for temperature, pH, turbidity and dissolved oxygen.
Citizen Science
NOAA has ideas and actual programs that benefit from the volunteer work of people they call citizen scientists. No special expertise required, and there are lots of places and activities open for a little extra help. As it turns out, a lot of U.S.A. federal agencies rely on “just us folks” — check out the link to the federal crowdsourcing catalog, below.
popular volunteer activities at NOAA
Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Catalog: It’s huge and covers many federal agencies. To focus on NOAA, for example, use the on-screen selections to choose Agency Sponsor > NOAA.
The Crowd and The Cloud: video series and online “join a project” tool to discover ways to participate that appeal to you.
Become a Waterkeeper
Waterkeepers and Waterkeeper Affiliates are ordinary citizens from all walks of life, united in their belief that healthy environments and healthy communities go hand in hand. Waterkeeper organizations and Waterkeeper Affiliate partners are on the frontlines of the global water crisis, using the Waterkeeper advocacy model to stand up and fight for everyone’s right to clean water.
Care to commit?
Von Wong hosts a Change.org “Pledge to Re-Use” that you can sign and share. Don’t miss our videos of his mermaid recycled art!
Organize Around Water Monitoring
“…’volunteer monitoring’ is encouraged by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).” Related resources:
National Water Quality Monitoring Council: Resources for Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
How much water can I save by…
Take the 40-Gallon Challenge — it’s a handy, eye-opening list with an optional pledge to commit to the water-saving actions you choose. Especially great for families and students but informative to everyone.
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