Environment Canterbury seeks volunteer water samplers.
Environment Canterbury is looking for three volunteer water samplers for sites at Sumner, Scarborough and South New Brighton Surf Club in Christchurch during the summer.
Environment Canterbury monitors the water quality at popular swimming spots to identify health risks from disease-causing organisms and to inform the public of these risks. As the summer water sampling season begins, volunteer samplers assist with sampling at sites around the estuary/Ihutai, in Lyttelton Harbour and in Akaroa Harbour.
Sampling is undertaken once a week over a 15-week period during the summer. The job requires that a sample be taken each Wednesday on the beach at Sumner, Scarborough and South New Brighton Surf Club at some time between 7am and 8pm depending on the tide. Sampling begins on November 17. Samples are taken at high tide and are then collected by Environment Canterbury and taken to the laboratory for analysis.
In past seasons beaches throughout Christchurch and Banks Peninsula have rated from very good to very poor. Very good means that the water quality at that particular beach is satisfactory for swimming at all times, while very poor means that people should avoid swimming in the area due to contamination.
Information is online at http://maps.ecan.govt.nz/
Those interested need to contact Environment Canterbury by November 4. A training session at the estuary will be held on Friday, November 5 and the first sampling day at Sumner, Scarborough and South New Brighton is Wednesday, November 17. If you can help out, or would like further information about the training session and the sampling, contact Shelley Washington, Environment Canterbury