The importance of citizen science and integrating it into existing data interpretation systems...
🗞️💧 A fantastic exclusive in The Guardian this week by sandra laville, sharing the highlights of the September Great UK WaterBlitz! The results of the WaterBlitz showed that 61% of datapoints across the UK have poor water quality with significant regional variation. For this WaterBlitz we joined forces with researchers from Imperial College London to test water samples for additional chemicals. Of the samples tested, 100% had further contamination; with 80% of samples presenting some level of risk from analysed compounds to aquatic life. Contaminants included caffeine, antidepressants and painkillers. You can read about the highlights of the report in The Guardian here: https://lnkd.in/gXDQe7vA Explore the scores of your local water bodies, and the full results, in our Great UK WaterBlitz report on our website: https://lnkd.in/eY6bauDN A huge thanks to the thousands of volunteer citizen scientists across the UK, including many groups from our supporters The WI (National Federation of Women's Institutes), for braving the wettest weekend of the year, 20-23rd September, to take part in the Great UK WaterBlitz. Citizen science has the power to generate vast, accurate water quality data, but regular testing is key. Join us for the next Great UK WaterBlitz in April 2025, register your interest on our website: https://lnkd.in/e5GVxhpE
