Iowa CCI partners with Izaak Walton League and their Nitrate Watch program to facilitate citizen water testing and add data to the Clean Water Hub.
We bring CCI’s testers together each month on Zoom as a "community of practice" - a place to learn from each other, share best practices, problem solve, deepen our understanding of water in different areas of the state, and be in good company with other clean water fighters.
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. It generally takes 7-10 days to receive your test kit.
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. Make sure you join the CCI organization on the hub!
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!
CCI water testers in the news:
September 2026 - Des Moines Register: With funding cut, Iowa volunteers step in to carry on water monitoring
April 2026 - Iowa Capital Dispatch: Here’s why Iowans say they volunteer to test lakes, rivers for nitrates
March 2026 - Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa volunteers begin water testing as advocates push for state funding
CCI testers sharing their data and findings with the community:
Indianola Independent Advocate: Kunckle says state should restore Water Quality Monitoring System
Fort Dodge Daily Freeman Journal: Water testing to preserve ecosystem