Plastic, Chemicals, and Bacteria, oh my!

Do you like scary things on Halloween? Are you scared to know what is really lurking under the surface of the water? Of course, anyone can see plastic trash floating on the river surface, but what about the pollution we can't see?

Potomac Riverkeeper Network's Swimmable Potomac Campaign works to reduce not just trash, but bacteria coming from sewage overflows right into the streams and rivers our kids and dogs play in. With the donation in 2019 of a dedicated bacteria monitoring lab equipment, we are able to reduce the cost of lab samples and test weekly at 16 sites, reporting the results on the Swim Guide App. Now we just need to cover the cost of training all you amazing volunteer citizen scientists, sampling supplies, lab overhead, and education and outreach efforts.

This program is crucial for reporting timely information to the public (that's you and me) on when it is safe to go in the water. Results from our data also supports local government efforts to clean up hot-spot areas and improve the health of our rivers. Our data show more swimmable than not swimmable days and that is amazing news.

Speaking of pollution you can't see and scary Halloween things, imagine a world of forever chemicals floating and bobbing in our water, unseen. A donation in this category may also go toward processing fish tissue samples for the presence of over 15 dangerous legacy chemicals in the Upper Potomac. This investigative work will help us track down the sources of these chemicals and stop pollution at its source.

Cost comparison: Sponsorship of (1) monitoring site or sampling for forever chemicals in the Upper Potomac costs approximately $2,500 annually