Happy World Water Day!
This is an especially important day for all of us at The Mariners’ Museum and Park. Our mission is to connect people to the world’s waters, and through those waters, to each other.
On a day dedicated to the sustainable use of water, we thought we would talk about our efforts to monitor and conserve our waterway, Mariners’ Lake.
Our Lake collects storm water from the city. Because of this, the health of the Lake and the life it supports can change quickly due to circumstances outside of the Museum and Park’s control.
Over the last six months, Erica Deale has spear-headed a campaign of water quality testing and monitoring. She and Dave Kennedy are taking samples every two weeks. They are also documenting how the seasons change our Lake and its biome.
Image credits – The Mariners’ Museum and Park
The goal is to measure water temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, acidity (pH) and E. coli levels.
Image credits – The Mariners’ Museum and Park
Since early 2019, Molly McGath has been measuring the nitrate and phosphate levels in the lake. High levels of nitrate and phosphate contribute to algae blooms. She is also tracking the fluoride, chloride, nitrite, bromide, and sulfate levels in the lake. This is all possible because of the ion chromatography unit funded by The Bronze Door Society.
Image credits – The Mariners’ Museum and Park
Deale, Kennedy, and McGath will collect data for the next year to serve as a baseline before drawing any conclusions. During this time they will be monitoring rainfall events and other incidents to see how these might influence measurements and the health of the Lake.
Celebrate World Water Day!
If you are in the neighborhood, please come join us in our celebration of World Water Day from 1:30-3:30 PM and learn more about how we can all work to bridge the sustainability gap.
You can also learn more about World Water Day at the UN’s website dedicated to the event: https://www.worldwaterday.org/