Citizen Science pollution monitoring
Help us work towards a River Dee free from pollution and full of wildlife by monitoring your local tributary.
Our citizen science programme supports volunteers to carry out regular pollution monitoring across the Dee catchment. By collecting consistent, high-quality data, you help us understand water quality trends, detect problems early and target action where it is needed most. This page is where trained volunteers can submit their data and view results from across the catchment.
If you’re new to pollution monitoring, the first step is to book onto a training session. All volunteers must register on Team Kinetics before attending training or submitting data. Team Kinetics is where you can sign up for training and manage your involvement. If you want a reminder of how to use the equipment head to the bottom of this page.
Our trained citizen scientists adopt tributaries across the Dee catchment, carrying out regular surveys to monitor water quality and identify signs of pollution.
Volunteers measure phosphate levels and turbidity, key indicators of nutrient pollution and sediment levels and record visual evidence such as discolouration, algal growth, sewage fungus and other signs of environmental stress. Monitoring the same sites consistently allows us to build a clear picture of long-term river health.
This data helps us:
- Detect pollution incidents
- Identify declining water quality
- Inform restoration priorities
- Support reporting to regulators where standards are not met
- Work with landowners and partners to find practical solutions
If you are new to pollution monitoring, please book onto one of our upcoming training events before submitting data.
Citizen Science Pollution Monitoring Results
Using rapid test strips, citizen scientists are measuring phosphate (PO4) which occurs naturally within river ecosystems in very low levels under 50 ppb (parts per billion). Higher levels of phosphate can be a good indicator of pollution, as the nutrient is found in animal and human waste, cleaning chemicals, industrial runoff and fertiliser.
High phosphate levels can cause eutrophication (excessive growth of algae due to high levels of nutrients), which then affects water quality, damages plants and animals and stops us using the water. At 100 ppb the water is polluted at levels that will be damaging to wildlife. These waters will still have some wildlife – but they won’t have the wonderful richness of life, or rare species that live in clean water. From 200-500 ppb (high levels) or 1000-2500 ppb (very high levels), even tougher species sometimes find it hard to make a home.
Data gathered is being used to identify degraded waterbodies, spot pollution events and target our work to eliminate pollutants entering the Dee. Each point on the map is a single survey carried out by a citizen scientist. High levels of phosphate at a particular point doesn’t necessarily mean that the pollution source is at that location – the source could be anywhere upstream of that point.
