DofE volunteering for an important cause
As part of his DofE volunteering, Year 9 student, Rufus, has joined the Evenlode Catchment Partnership (ECP) as a citizen scientist. Led by Wild Oxfordshire, the ECP has a ‘vision for an Evenlode with improved water quality, enhanced flood management, enriched biodiversity, with a greater community engagement with rivers, at local and landscape scales’. The River Evenlode runs 72km from Gloucestershire, through Oxfordshire to the River Thames. As part of their work, ECP citizen scientists monitor the ecological status of river, stream and pond sites across the Evenlode catchment, an important aspect of the work of the ECP.
Rufus is already involved in Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) and, as part of his ECP volunteering, is monitoring newly created ponds at Milton under Wychwood including sampling nitrates, phosphates and turbidity (cloudiness) of the water.
Sharing how he became involved in the project, Rufus said, “I met my local MP during an online Scouts meeting and asked him about sewage pollution in our rivers and what he was doing, or going to do about it, having had the experience of walking through overflowing sewage on the way to school. The answer I received was disappointing, simply saying that it was impossible, sewage spills onto pavements occur. Due to this, I got involved with WASP, the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution group. I’ve met with the Chief Executive of Thames Water to discuss our concerns and commented on a proposed Government Bill which aimed to control sewage pollution at high-priority sites only, within an unsuitably long timeframe. At a Youth Conference, I learned about the Evenlode Catchment Partnership and then began testing water quality as part of my DofE Volunteering.
I test for Nitrates (NO3), Phosphates (PO4) and turbidity (cloudiness). I also record changes to the condition of the water and surrounding banks, looking for things like algae and sewage fungus. I have learnt about how agriculture causes groundwater pollution which affects nitrate levels in our rivers, and the way that sewage spills impact phosphate levels and introduce unpleasant debris. I would almost definitely look to an area of science for my future career.”
What a great opportunity to support such an important project whilst working towards his DofE award.
