Teach and Test Program

TeachAndTestWaterSampling

West Basin is a sponsor of the Surfrider Foundation South Bay chapter’s Teach and Test Program. The program allows high school students to volunteer to monitor water quality in the Santa Monica Bay by collecting and processing water samples.

During the program, students collect, prepare and analyze water samples bi-weekly from October through May. Water samples are gathered at 23 coastal locations. Then they are transported, processed, and analyzed under the guidance of an experienced professional laboratory technician. Enterococci bacteria levels of each water sample are analyzed, then bacteria level results are published to an online database run by the Blue Water Task Force, Surfrider Foundation’s volunteer-run, water testing, education and advocacy program.

At the end of the year, school teams are required to conduct a final presentation that connects the project findings to other environmentally sustainable efforts around the Santa Monica Bay.

The goal of the program is to maintain and improve water quality monitoring, and educate the public about water quality conditions in the South Bay.

To learn more about this program or how to volunteer, please contact West Basin Education Coordinator Janel Ancayan at 310-660-6253 or JanelA@westbasin.org.

View photos from the program View Blue Water Task Force water sample results

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