World Water Monitoring Day was an international day established in 2003 by America's Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) as a global

educational outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

program. The program, subsequently named the "World Water Monitoring Challenge" and "EarthEcho Water Challenge," aims to build public awareness and involvement in protecting

water resource Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...

s around the world by empowering citizens to carry out basic monitoring of their local water bodies. Roberta (Robbi) Savage, ACWF's president and CEO created WWMD, and Edward Moyer was the first WWMD Coordinator. A simple test kit enables everyone, children and adults, to sample local water bodies for a set of

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

parameters including temperature,

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a ...

(pH), clarity (

turbidity Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids ...

) and

dissolved oxygen Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the given temperature. It ca ...

(DO). Information on purchasing low-cost test kits is available from the current sponsoring organization,

EarthEcho International EarthEcho International is an environmental nonprofit organization founded in honor of oceanographer Philippe Cousteau, by his children and widow. EarthEcho is based in Washington, D.C. The foundation was originally named the Philippe Cousteau Fou ...

, and the results of monitoring events are then shared with participating communities around the globe on the sponsor's website. World Water Monitoring Day was originally celebrated annually on September 18. This date was initially chosen to be a month later (October 18) to recognize the anniversary of the US Clean Water Act, which was enacted by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1972 to restore and protect the country's water resources. In 2007, the date was changed to facilitate participation in parts of the world where temperatures reach freezing conditions at that time. In 2006, ACWF transferred the coordination of the event to the

Water Environment Federation The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of more than 34,000 individual members and 75 Member Associations (MAs) representing water quality professionals around the world. WEF, which was form ...

(WEF) and the

International Water Association The International Water Association (IWA) is a nonprofit organization and knowledge hub for the water sector, connecting water professionals and companies to find solutions to the world's water challenges. The IWA is headquartered in London, UK, ...

(IWA). The collective goal was to expand participation to one million people in 100 countries by 2012. In January 2015 the management of World Water Monitoring Day was transferred to EarthEcho International. 2008 saw students from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

Environmental concerns make water protection necessary
The Cabin.net, November, 2008 taking part in water sampling to bring attention to the importance of water quality. As of 2018, EarthEcho International encourages participants to conduct their monitoring activities as part of the "EarthEcho Water Challenge" during any period between March 22 (

World Water Day World Water Day is an annual United Nations (UN) observance day held on 22 March that highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The theme of each year focuses o ...

) and December of each year.

References

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External links

EarthEcho Water Challenge
- Official site Environmental education Water resources management Crowdsourcing Citizen science

See also

References

External links