Citizen Science

Working with local river groups and communities is vital for our work improving the river health in our region. As part of our commitment to Get River Positive, we’re launching Anglian Water’s pilot Citizen Science programme.

Citizen Science is a vital part of our Get River Positive programme. It is designed to help us gain a better understanding of the river health in our region and engage more closely with local river groups and authorities.

Launched in June 2023, the first batch of tests will be treated as a pilot Citizen Science programme, involving groups across the region. These groups each received a water quality monitoring kit that can be used to help them gain a better understanding of what is affecting river health.

  
These kits will test for pH, temp, Ammonia, Nitrates, Free and Total Chlorine, Dissolved Oxygen and Phosphates. When testing, it’s important to bear in mind that lots of external factors could affect your test results such as weather, businesses such as car washes, agricultural run-off and even other river users. We are encouraging participating groups to take notes of their surroundings so that we can better understand what could be impacting the water quality.

During this pilot phase, we will be asking river groups for feedback on the process, to help us build an industry-leading Citizen Science programme. Although applications are currently closed for further groups to take part in Citizen Science, we welcome any interested parties to fill out the below form and register their interest for future citizen science funding or opportunities. It is important to note that applicants must be part of a local rivers group or trust to participate.

If you have any questions on citizen science or would like to discuss your eligibility, you can contact the Get River Positive team on GetRiverPositive@anglianwater.co.uk (this email is manned Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm). We will endeavour to get back to you within three working days.