District Digest News Stories

Nashville District participates in the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™

Published Sept. 16, 2013
Amy Redmond, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, holds up the pH sample to the pH color chart for recording the results collected at river mile 247.7 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ Sept. 13, 2013.

Amy Redmond, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, holds up the pH sample to the pH color chart for recording the results collected at river mile 247.7 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ Sept. 13, 2013.

Amy Redmond, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, prepares the pH sample collected at river mile 247.7 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ on Sept. 13, 2013.

Amy Redmond, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, prepares the pH sample collected at river mile 247.7 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ on Sept. 13, 2013.

This is the dissolved oxygen and pH samples collected from the test site at river mile 243.8 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ on Sept. 13, 2013.

This is the dissolved oxygen and pH samples collected from the test site at river mile 243.8 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ on Sept. 13, 2013.

Trey Church, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, holds up the dissolved oxygen to the dissolved oxygen color chart for recording the results collected at river mile 237 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ Sept. 13, 2013.

Trey Church, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, holds up the dissolved oxygen to the dissolved oxygen color chart for recording the results collected at river mile 237 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ Sept. 13, 2013.

Trey Church, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, records the four key water quality indicators: dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, and turbidity from the test site at river mile 237 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ Sept. 13, 2013.

Trey Church, natural resource specialist at Old Hickory Lake, records the four key water quality indicators: dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, and turbidity from the test site at river mile 237 on the Cumberland River for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™ Sept. 13, 2013.

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 16. 2013) – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District park rangers at Old Hickory Lake in conjunction with National Public Lands Day got their hands wet Sept. 2-13 collecting water quality data for the 2013 World Water Monitoring Challenge™.

Testing seven sites on Old Hickory Lake from Cumberland River mile 216.2 to 247.7, Natural Resource Specialist Amy Redmond and Trey Church recorded each site’s dissolved oxygen, pH (acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution), temperature, and turbidity results.

Redmond said that the water quality testing was a good experience that showed how the impacts to land within the Old Hickory Lake watershed affects the quality of water at different points on the lake.

“Before we begun our testing, we made the hypothesis that waters surrounded by development would have a lower dissolved oxygen level and have a more acidic pH level,” said Redmond. “However, our tests revealed that throughout the lake the dissolved oxygen level consistently stayed between 4 and 8 parts per million with a saturation ranging from 52 to 102, and the water surrounded by farmland was more acidic.”

The World Water Monitoring Challenge™ is coordinated by the Water Environment Federation, a non-profit technical and educational organization, and the International Water Association, a network of water professionals. The international education program engages participants from around the world to conduct an annual basic monitoring of their local water starting March 22 (which is United Nations World Water Day) until Dec. 31, 2013.

Receiving financial sponsorship and in-kind support from the United States Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, Xylem Watermark and Smithfield Foods, the World Water Monitoring Challenge is expected to distribute low-cost monitoring kits to over 300,000 participants and nearly 80 countries this year.

Old Hickory Lake plans to participate in the World Water Monitoring Challenge™ next year. 

For more information on how to participate in the 2013 data collection, read stories from participants around the world and to log your results in the online database please visit www.MonitorWater.org.

For more news, information and updates please follow the Nashville District on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and Old Hickory Lake at http://www.facebook.com/oldhickorylake.