For the past 8 months our WaterWatch volunteer Stephen has been collecting an extra water sample per month as part of the Deakin University community science program, Pesticide Watch. Stephen’s water samples are posted to Deakin Uni for chemical testing to see which of the over 11,000 pesticides used in Australia are lurking in their local stream.
“I’ve found the sample collection process easy, the protocols are identical to the Platypus eDNA sampling I’ve done a couple of times now, but as the Pesticide Watch sampling is monthly for a year I’ve got the technique down pat just through repetition at this point” says Stephen.
Stephen will test the water at his Foster Creek site for one year, with just four months to go. His results will contribute to testing all across Australia, which is designed to better understand the chemicals that enter our waterways and potentially cause damage to our freshwater ecosystems. These pesticides are washed into our drains and waterways when it rains and can last in the water for decades.
You can learn more about pesticide watch and the impact of pesticides in our waterways here: Pesticide Watch – A Deakin University project