Testing the Water: Citizen Scientists Needed!

*** PROJECT EXTENDED: WE NEED MORE SAMPLERS IN BRENT!! ***

Volunteer water samplers are needed in Brent and Barnet to help with an ambitious citizen science project! When you sign up, we will email you the link to join the WhatsApp group where the project is being coordinated.

Working with Imperial College, water activists are testing how much road pollution is running off into streams in Barnet and Brent.

Testing has to happen when it rains after a dry spell, so you will need to be available on relatively short notice. The aim is to collect "first flush" samples of river water from waterways around the edge of West Ealing, up the North Circular into Wembley, then north into Hendon, Burnt Oak and Edgware. This will happen in April (extended from March), weather permitting.

Testing will only take place in daylight hours in pairs at least, and you can select a site near to you. You will need some training and to locate a freezer to drop the samples off at, so they can be transferred to Imperial for analysis.

You can view the map of sampling locations here (also in the image for this session listing). Green ticks are locations that definitely need testers.

We need at least 3 volunteers per location, to make sure two people are available on short notice to collect samples at the right times. Local activists have already signed up, but some sites have no testers yet. More people are needed around Brent/Wembley/Hanwell!