ENUGU, Nigeria, Oct. 21, 2005 -- Community Level Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) celebrated the World Water Monitoring Day in Nigeria.
The 2005 monitoring window for World Water Monitoring Day -- which was founded by the America's Clean Water Foundation in Washington, D.C. -- began on Sept. 18. Results from monitoring may be recorded anytime through Dec. 18.
As part of the Nigerian monitoring, representatives of CLEAN tested about 12 different water samples collected from lakes, rivers and dams, including harvested rainwater. It was a lot of fun as our representatives alternatively used the do-it-yourself kit supplied by Tom Hadfield, of event co-sponsor the International Water Association, to test for pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and other parameters in line with the World Water Monitoring Day Celebrations.
"We had a lot of fun and many young people participated and even tested their tap water samples. Waaooo! We are indeed grateful to all our partners -- Americas Clean Water Foundation and the Young Water Action Team," said Igwe Uche, MNES, national program officer of CLEAN Nigeria.
"Our pictures are attached herewith. Let the partnership that will deliver MDGS on water and sanitation in rural communities continue."
Community Level Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), of Enugu, Nigeria, is a network for facilitating connections among practitioners, experts and funders in the WES (water-environment-sanitation) sector so that they can learn together and collaborate on ways to help communities and organizations through participatory approaches to make informed choices. For more information, contact +234-8037863870 or [email protected].
On Oct. 18, citizens of the global community joined together to celebrate World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD), a worldwide opportunity to positively impact the health of rivers, lakes, estuaries and other water bodies. Volunteer monitoring groups, water quality agencies, students, and the general public were invited to test four key indicators of water quality: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity.
World Water Monitoring Day grew out of the Year of Clean Water, which commemorated the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Clean Water Act. In 2002, all 50 states participated in the fledging effort. In 2003, 24 countries joined the effort; 2004 saw more than 50 countries participating; and, in 2005, America's Clean Water Foundation's president Roberta Savage indicated that the number of participating countries ought to climb to over 75.
"World Water Monitoring Day was designed to bring together persons of all colors, faiths, beliefs, economic backgrounds together to monitor the quality of our global water resources," Savage said. "Events have taken place in countries throughout the world and we are delighted to see this volunteer effort grow, year after year."
For more information log on to www.worldwatermonitoringday.org.
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