Water testing in the sunny South!

The following post showcases one of our water testing groups in Florida. Do you have pictures or stories that you want to share? Contact us!

If you’re like us, you’re probably trying to make the most of winter. Whether it be skiing, snowshoeing, or curling up with a warm mug of hot chocolate, we Canadians sure know how to make the best of below zero.

Still, we can’t help but get a BIT jealous of our neighbours down south from time to time. This is especially true when they send us amazing updates from the field! 

Meet our Florida Water Rangers

The Lake Cane Restoration Society has been hard at work testing the water all winter long. To do so, they’ve recently incorporated the Water Rangers testkit into their protocol. Not only has our kit enabled them to collect data, but they’ve also been able to use it to train others too. One of these “trainees” is their intern, Bradley, who inspired us to write this post! 

As part of his internship, Bradley took some amazing photos and made a guide to share with the rest of the Lake Cane community. Check ’em out!

Tester in Florida attaching sample cup to a selfie stick for water testing
Bradley attaching his sample cup to his reacher stick
Water tester in Florida demonstrating how to hang thermometer in a shady spot
As Bradley demonstrates, it’s important to hang your thermometer in a shady spot! This is especially true if its a super hot summer day (or a winter day in Florida!)
Using secchi disk to measure water depth
Using a secchi disk to measure water depth
Tester in Florida showing the contents of a dissolved oxygen kit, used for water testing
Time for dissolved oxygen!

Why we love this

While we walk our testers through the testing process in our field guide, online training resources, and more, we love when our testers adapt our tools to their own local contexts. By taking these pictures and putting together a guide, Bradley was able to show others in his community just how easy and fun it is to test the water.

We also love when groups use our kits to teach the next generation of water testers how it’s done. As explained by Jay from the LCRS, using the Water Rangers kit is just one way the group is guiding Bradley in the successful application of his math and science talents. We think this is an awesome idea!

As for us, we’re patiently waiting for the snow to melt so we can get back to water testing. Until then, we’ll be living vicariously through our Floridian friends!