Cody Lyvere stood on the bank of the South Platte River just
north of Dartmouth Avenue with a small vial in hand.
After dropping two tiny gray tablets into the water sample he
violently shook the glass tube and waited for the results of a
dissolved oxygen test.
“If there’s a lot of oxygen in the water it’s like, yeah, fish
can breathe,” said Denver Academy sophomore Phil Matthews. “If
there’s not a lot, it’s bad for the fish.”
The dissolved oxygen test was only one of many basic indicator
tests Denver Academy students completed at the Littleton Englewood
Wastewater Treatment Plant as part of the fifth annual World Water
Monitoring Day, Oct. 20.
World Water Monitoring Day is an international education and
outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in
protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to
conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies.
The Water Environment Federation encourages communities to raise
water quality awareness from March 22 to Dec. 31 each year.
“We want to expose kids to their impact on overall water quality
so that they might take the easy steps to protect it,” said
Littleton Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant chemist Steve
Mustain.
He continued by explaining how water treated in the plant
eventually moves to places like Thornton, where it becomes
residents’ drinking water.
“Yes, the South Platte is a river running through town but it’s
also used for drinking water and supports aquatic life.”
Public awareness of the impending world water crisis is an
important prerequisite to create a responsible citizenship capable
of improving world water management, according to the Journal of
Applied Environmental Education and Communication.
The world water crisis has been called one of the largest public
health issues of our time.
Nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20 percent of the world’s
population) lack access to safe drinking water.
The lack of clean, safe drinking water is estimated to kill
almost 4,500 children per day.
“It would be important to know about your water quality if you
lived in Mexico or Costa Rica,” said sophomore Nick Evans, while
testing the PH balance of the river water.
“Especially if you’re drinking from a tap.”
But it’s important even in Colorado, added Evans’ classmate
Lauren Allen.
According to the World Water Day organization, the problem isn’t
confined to a particular region of the world.
A third of the Earth’s population lives in “water stressed”
areas and that number is expected to rise dramatically over the
next two decades.
For example, by 2030 communities along the front range will need
630,000 aquatic feet of new water supply. And most of the supply is
tied up on the Western Slope.
As a child during the fire of Cuyahoga River in Ohio, Mustain
says he never wants to see the South Platte in a similar condition.
The Cuyahoga River at one time was considered the most polluted
river in the country.
“If we don’t pay attention to what’s going in to our water all
of our fish and aquatic plant life will disappear,” Mustain
said.
Started in 2002 in the United States, World Water Monitoring Day
is celebrated in 50 countries by more than 75,000 participants per
year.
It’s the goal of the Water Environment Federation to involve 1
million people in 100 countries by 2012.
It was inspired by the belief that everyone — not just
professionals with specialized degrees — can study the natural
world and collect meaningful data, trained volunteer monitors spend
countless hours in the field making careful observations and
measurements.
Results are shared with participating communities around the
globe to track emerging trends, through the World Water Monitoring
Day Web site.