Waterwatch
Help monitor water quality on the Central Coast and beyond.
Waterwatch is a citizen science and community education program aimed at empowering participants to protect their local environment and improve catchment health.
About Waterwatch
Waterwatch is a national program that enables schools and community groups to monitor the water quality of their local waterways.
Waterwatch involves people in the community helping to improve the health of our waterways. There are many ways you can get involved.
For decades, community concern about the health of our waterways has highlighted the need for more information about water quality. Blue green algae blooms and major fish kills in our inland rivers and coastal lakes highlight these problems.
Government departments, researchers, industry and others have expanded water quality monitoring programs using a range of monitoring systems. But the data collected is still only a small part of the total picture. Information from Waterwatch’s community monitoring programs helps to fill data gaps and get a picture of water quality across all parts of a catchment.
Community water quality monitoring programs began in Australian in the early 1990s. The introduction of Streamwatch in the Sydney region was closely followed by the National Waterwatch program in 1993, with Central Coast Waterwatch starting in 1997.
Waterwatch groups are a major driving force for change in the way that society values and cares for its precious waterways.
Local information and investigations can lead to local solutions such as:
- Fencing areas of riverbanks,
- Eradicating weeds and invasive species,
- Identifying pollution and reducing the effects of runoff, or
- Even changes to license conditions of polluting industry.
The information collected by Waterwatch groups has been an important guide to programs that improve the health of our waterways.
Monitoring stream health
The water quality tests done through Waterwatch can include any or all of the following tests depending on the information needs of your project.
A Waterwatch group can measure the following water quality attributes:
Basic parameters:
- Temperature: Changes in water temperature over time
- pH: acidity of the water
- Conductivity: a measure of salinity levels
- Turbidity: Clarity of water
Senior parameters: 4 basic parameters, plus:
- Available phosphates: an important nutrient that feeds growth of algae and weeds
- Oxygen: the amount of oxygen in the water
The Central Coast Waterwatch Coordinator can discuss whether monitoring the Basic or Senior set of parameters would be best for your site. Please note: Primary Schools are only able to undertake the basic or junior parameter testing.
In addition to these physical and chemical parameters above, you may find collecting macroinvertebrates (water bugs) a useful indicator of waterway health.
Enter your Waterwatch data
Waterwatch data is being collected from waterways throughout Australia. The Waterwatch data is collected to assist the community to assess the health of their own catchments.
To help volunteers manage data, the Waterwatch Database has been developed. The Waterwatch Database allows your regional coordinator to:
- enter your Waterwatch data and store it as a record or file;
- develop graphs and produce short reports about your data;
- and perform simple analyses on the Waterwatch data you have collected from your catchment.
For more information please contact the Central Coast Waterwatch coordinator on Tel: 02 4349 4757 or email us.
NSW Waterwatch website
Want to know more about Waterwatch in other regions of NSW? Visit the NSW Waterwatch NSW website. Explore our online resources, and see how you can become involved in monitoring your local waterway.
Get Involved!
Would you like to understand more about the health of your local waterway?
Learning by doing is often the best way. The Waterwatch program offers plenty of ways that your group or school can get involved in monitoring the health of your environment and take part in managing some of the problems.
The Waterwatch program offers community groups and schools:
- A comprehensive water quality monitoring system to suit your group’s needs and interests.
- Use of an on-line water quality database for entering test results and viewing other water quality information.
- The opportunity to be part of a national network of community water quality monitoring groups.
- A way to have fun with friends, family and others!
The benefits of monitoring include:
- Finding out how good or bad the health of your waterway is.
- Understanding what the problems are and what needs to be done.
- Measuring change in the health of your waterway over time.
- Showing the benefits of your actions such as tree planting, pollution reduction.
- Gathering information to show others the problems that are occurring
- Encouraging greater community awareness of environmental problems.
The Waterwatch program can tailor a package of equipment and methods that suits your site and issue of interest, and your preferred frequency and type of testing.
To be part of the waterwatch project fill out an EOI, or contact Central Coast Waterwatch- waterwatch@cen.org.au or ph: 43494757
This project has been assisted by the NSW Government through funding from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
