Module 1 - background
Waterwatch Australia Steering Committee
Environment Australia, June 2003
ISBN 0 6425 4856 0
Important things to remember
Before you begin waterwatching consider safety, courtesy, environmental and legal matters.
Clothing and protection
- Wear proper clothing and footwear, including long pants, long socks, long-sleeved shirt, sturdy waterproof shoes with a good grip, a hat and latex rubber gloves. Warm clothing and a raincoat are essential in cold and wet weather. Wear a hat and use sun screen in sunny weather. Take a towel to dry your hands.
- If your site is in a heavily vegetated area, wear bright, easily visible clothing.
- Wear life jackets when sampling from boats or in other dangerous situations.
Medical
- Know any important medical conditions of group members, for example, allergies to bee stings.
- Take a fully stocked first aid kit with you when venturing into the field for surveys or samples.
- Do not sample if you have broken skin (cuts etc.). Use latex rubber gloves or get someone else to do the sampling.
- Take care when handling chemicals. Always use safety gloves and glasses and avoid contact with skin, eyes, nose and mouth.
- Carry drinking water with you. Do not drink from the water you are surveying or testing as it may be polluted. In particular, when sampling in urban areas, do not put your hands near your mouth, or eat or drink while testing the water.
Avoiding potential problems at the site
- When selecting a site for monitoring or surveying, choose one that has safe and easy access to the streambank or wetland and the water. You need only gain access to one bank and simply observe the other when conducting the surveys. Check that the stream bank is stable and not too slippery. Do not choose a monitoring site in a place that is prone to floods without warning.
- Let someone else know how long you intend being out and where you will be sampling.
- Never survey alone. Work with at least two other people. If one of you is injured, one person can go for help and one can stay with the injured person.
- Carry coins for a phone in case you need to make an emergency call. Make sure you know where the nearest phone is located, or carry a fully charged mobile phone (you may not have service, however, if you are in a remote area).
- Do not enter the water to take samples if it is more than knee deep. Sampling can generally be done from the water's edge, except for macro-invertebrates which need to be sampled in shallow riffles, less than knee deep. When entering these shallow waters, make sure you wear gum boots with a good grip. Do not enter barefoot as cuts are common and you could easily lose your foothold.
- Be careful of hidden objects, holes, snakes, prickly vegetation etc. when walking to the waterway or along the bank. Always watch where you are going and never put your hands or feet in places where you cannot see.
- Know how to clean up chemical spills and be familiar with the Material Safety Data Sheets that are provided with chemical reagents.
- Do not allow children to sample without adult supervision.
Waterwatch group leaders and coordinators are responsible for passing on safety procedures and must instil an ethic of due diligence and care into all participants in the project. Teachers must check Education Department safety and excursion guidelines.
Waterwatch groups must ensure students and young people involved in Waterwatch are well supervised. They must be properly advised about all likely risks and be adequately instructed about how to carry out the tasks.
- If you must cross private property to reach your survey site, first seek the property owner's permission.
- If you need to cross farm fences, crawl through or under them. Do not stand on the wire, as this may damage the fence.
- Leave all gates as you found them.
- Look at and photograph animals and plants but do not harm them.
- Take away more litter than you brought in.
- Avoid muddying the waters, leave clear water where possible.
- Collect chemical waste water generated from monitoring in a waste liquid bottle and solid waste in a plastic bag.
- Sample macro-invertebrates at a site no more than three or four times per year.