Iowa CCI partnered with Izaak Walton League and their Nitrate Watch program to facilitate citizen water testing. We've had great participation with over 200 people ordering test kits and adding data to the Clean Water Hub. It's super simple and we are excited to offer this people powered program again in 2026!
We aim to be strategic with testing and ask Citizen Scientists to test their tap and an outdoor waterway in their area. We also work to build a sense of community for testers where it is possible and makes sense. We want to make this program more robust AND connect people around water quality in their area.
If this community driven science of water testing and data collection sounds like your jam - here's how to get started!
Step One: Click here to order your testing kit. Due to an incredibly high volume of test kit requests, current requests will be added to a waitlist. Nitrate Watch is working to secure additional test kits. You can order a kit at iwla.org/shop
Step Two: Figure out your testing and monitoring plan. What water do you want to test and how often? Here is a link to the Nitrate Watch Monitoring Plan worksheet. This is a helpful resource for making your testing plan.
Step Three: Conduct some water tests! We encourage people to test their tap water AND a local water body.
Step Four: Log your data into the Clean Water Hub database.
Step Five: We meet at 5:00pm on the last Thursday of the month to build our community of practice. Stay tuned for details on how to join or email us at iowacci (at) iowacci.org.
We hope you will join us to test water and collect data!