The head of an independent environmental research group has said that citizen science testing of river water quality will expand this year in an attempt to make the data part of official monitoring of waterways.
The use of ordinary people across the country to test river water quality for pollutants including phosphates, nitrates and other chemicals has captured the imagination of thousands of volunteers. In 2024 more than 7,000 people took part in river testing “blitzes” run over two weekends by the NGO Earthwatch Europe. The research, using standardised testing equipment provided by the NGO and Imperial College London, gathered data from almost 4,000 freshwater sites across the UK.
It provided an insight into the cocktail of pollutants from water companies and agricultural runoff, which are contributing to the crisis in river ecosystems.
Sasha Woods, the director of science and policy at Earthwatch, said it was critical to turn the noise around river pollution into meaningful action.
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“We are at a tipping point in terms of freshwater quality, where we all know how bad the situation is, and now there is a real sense that this is the year things are going to be moving in the right direction,” said Woods.
“I would like to see more citizen science data and for that data to begin featuring in official monitoring reports. We have collated a lot of information and will continue to use citizen science to collect data sets that demonstrate where the problems are and what solutions are needed.”
Woods said citizen science was robust and increasingly accepted as a way to provide data on many thousands more sites than official regulators such as the Environment Agency (EA) were able to provide. By the end of March 2025 the EA has promised to put more people on the ground and provide 4,000 fresh water data points. “We were able to do in two weekends what the EA is trying to do by the end of March this year,” said Woods.
“That has demonstrated the power of citizen science and I think the Environment Agency is recognising the usability of citizen science. What we do is never going to replace what the EA is doing in terms of monitoring, but I think it supports and enhances what they are doing.”
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
