Other Water Quality Monitoring Programs
The Izaak Walton League is one of America’s oldest and most successful conservation organizations – and we are the only organization training, equipping, and coordinating volunteer water quality monitors on a national scale. These volunteers are the heart and soul of our common-sense conservation mission. IWLA aims to crowd-source data on a national scale to educate the public and empower volunteers to take action to protect our waterways. Virginia is leading the way in many of these programs, and you can help! Check out the monitoring opportunities below and join us as we tackle our country’s most pressing water quality issues!
Creek Critters
Don’t have time for a full VA SOS collection? With this app you can collect bugs by following simple step-by-step instructions, and identify your bugs with an interactive identification key. Perfect for families, public programs, and even as a solo activity, Creek Critters is easy and fun.
Once you’ve identified your bugs, Creek Critters does the rest! The app automatically calculates your Stream Health Score based on your findings. The score tells you how healthy your stream is – plus your results are added to the Clean Water Hub, our public database of water quality in America.
Click here for instructions on how to download and use Creek Critters.
Chemical Monitoring
Spend 30 minutes at your favorite waterway with a handful of materials and our downloadable instruction sheet. Leave knowing what’s in your water. Check out the SOS Chemical Monitoring Manual to learn more!
Our easy-to-follow instructions will help you test dissolved oxygen, pH, chloride, phosphate, nitrate, transparency, and temperature. Each of the seven tests can be done independently, and any data that you collect is valuable and can be uploaded into the Clean Water Hub.
Located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed? Our partners at the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay offer certification and equipment for volunteers wanting their data to go the DEQ and the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Salt Watch
Road salt is everywhere during winter months. It keeps us safe on roads and sidewalks, but it can also pose a threat to fish and wildlife as well as human health.
Fish and bugs that live in freshwater streams can’t survive in extra salty water. And many of us (more than 118 million Americans) depend on local streams for drinking water. Water treatment plants are not equipped to filter out the extra salt, so it can end up in your tap water and even corrode your pipes. You can help.
Take the Salt Watch Pledge, and we’ll send you a FREE kit with everything you need to find out whether road salt pollution is a problem in your local stream.
Interested in partnering? Your organization can sign on and receive bulk sets of kits for your programs. Email SaltWatch@iwla.org with any questions.
NEW PROGRAM: Nitrate Watch
Nitrate (NO3-) is a naturally occurring compound made up of nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, but human activities produce more nitrogen than natural systems can use.
Fertilizers, manure and sewage all add extra nitrogen to the landscape. As this nitrogen moves through the environment, it becomes nitrate. The nitrate can then make its way to streams and sources of drinking water via surface runoff or groundwater saturation. Excess nitrate in water can pose serious problems for the health of humans and the environment.
Take the Nitrate Watch Pledge and we will send you a FREE kit containing everything you need to measure nitrate in your drinking water or local waterways.