 |
| Tweet about water quality measurement. |
 |
| The water quality meter. This is on a very quiet part of the Yarra, and I went through trees and spider webs to reach it. Most of the noise was birdsong. |
 |
| Water quality website operates only in summer. |
 |
| Maybe they could liven it up a bit, even if the data is fictitious. |
Hi
If you saw my last post, and earlier ones like this, you will know I've done a bit of river swimming lately to tests rafts. More recently I've done it for fun as well, having found the Deep Rock swimming site on the Yarra. As a life long surfer, I'm used to cold water, and the local swimming spot seems clean enough.
Anyway Christine and I were discussing this with our friend Ermi, and she started brandishing her smart phone and showed us the Beach Water Quality app / website thingy. This is currently disappointing. Why? Well they don't report on water quality in the colder months, even though this week's "cold" includes a forecast of a relatively warm 25 degrees C.
Anyway, I tracked down the pollution bouy which I had seen while swimming, and also a Melbourne water tweet about similar machines.
I've included a screen grab from the epa website, also a serving suggestion for the site. If they can't provide information, at least they could be entertaining. This is my very mild protest!
Anyway, if wave data is supplied continuously, why can't water quality data be supplied continuosly too? Besides swimmers, there are owners of dogs who swim, canoeists, and fishers who could all be interested in water quality. Humans are custodians of the river, and we also have a right to be concerned about its health for the sake of the wildlife and fish who swim there.
Regards Steve Nurse
PS, although I have not fully explored it, this site looks quite promising.