Godalming - Water Rangers - United Kingdom

Our next training session will be on Sunday, 24 September, 2023, at 10:30am. Meet us at ///lately.starts.doll

After training, meet at the Star Inn at 12pm for a coffee, an introduction to the rest of the testers, and how to enter your data.

What we do

Test for water chemistry

To gather baseline water quality data

Test for invertebrates

To provide a fuller picture of health

Share our data

And plan projects to help the river!

About the Godalming Water Testing Group

Training days

Since we're volunteer-organized, we ask that you join us on the last Saturday or Sunday of each month at 10am at the Duck Viewing Platform to get trained. You'll see our recruitment sign there!

Once you've had training, you're invited to meet up with other testers at the Star Inn where we enter in data and make any plans for other river-related activities (restoration projects, litter picks, tours, presentations, etc). That will give us the opportunity to find the best place for you to join testers every month.
How we test

We use the Water Rangers testkit that has been adapted for the UK to test for temperature, pH, alkalinity, hardness, conductivity, nitrates, and phosphates. We also conduct a visual assessment on colour, flow, and more. Our volunteers learn what's normal for their spots so that they can see how things change!

Contents of the testkit

The UK testing protocol

Data we've collected
Where we test

We test for water chemistry monthly at 13 locations in the region. That number is growing! When you join us, you'll be teamed up with existing volunteers. We like 2-3 people per location so that even if you have a holiday, your sample location is covered. Plus, for safety reasons, we prefer you to test with others. The data is shared with Freshwater Watch and other data platforms.

Our data collection group
Points of interest

One of the great new features we've introduced thanks to Godalming TC is "Points of Interest" where we display live outflow data from Thames Water. In Godalming, we test upstream (before) and downstream (after) an outflow to compare results. Often times, results are more nuanced than we anticipate! We're hoping to add in more points of interest that show how effective nature-based solutions are in helping water quality!

Blog post explaining points of interest

View the live data for Godalming!
Kicktesting

Once per month, we conduct 'kick testing' using the Riverfly method. We collect key species of the insects that start their lives in the water and count them. Our score is then shared with Surrey Wildlife Trust and more. Our first spot is located a short walk from our meeting place. If you'd like to join kicktesting, please first attend a water chemistry introduction.

About the Riverfly method
Other projects

We want to be doing more than just testing (although that's important, too!). This group of volunteers are doing some pretty incredible things for the river including touring restored wetlands, touring the water treatment works to understand how they work, participating in catchment partnership projects, removing invasive species, litter picks, fundraising, public training sessions and more. If you have a river restoration project in our region, we'd love to be involved! Check back here for upcoming events and activities.
About the River Wey Trust

Godalming's water testing program is only possible thanks to the leadership from the River Wey Trust. We encourage you to become a "Friend" of the River Wey Trust (£10/year). You can also donate to them directly to support water testing like this in the region.

River Wey Trust's website

View all the hubs organized by the River Wey Trust

Become a friend of the River Wey Trust

This hub is made possible thanks to...

This project was co-created by The River Wey Trust and Water Rangers. Seed funding provided by Godalming Town Council and ongoing supplies supported by the Star Inn. Thank you!

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What we do

Test for water chemistry

Test for invertebrates

Share our data

About the Godalming Water Testing Group

Training days

How we test

Where we test

Points of interest

Kicktesting

Other projects

About the River Wey Trust

This hub is made possible thanks to...