Meet a Monitor: Sarah Sojka and Karin Warren
Sarah and Karin are certified Virginia Save Our Streams monitors & trainers, and are professors of environmental studies at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. They are monitoring the effects of the recent removal of a major dam that was built nearly a century ago.
Meet a Monitor: Nishka Shah
Nishka is a high school student, certified VA SOS monitor, and Youth Conservation Leadership Institute member who is working to reduce pollution in northern Virginia’s streams.
Tackling chloride pollution in the DC region: When ice melts, road salt lingers
Road salt applicators in the public and private sectors apply an estimated 20-30 million tons of salt to pavement in the U.S. to treat ice each year. This salt persists…
Winter Salt Awareness Week Reaches Volunteers across the U.S.
In January, groups across the U.S. and Canada held discussions to raise awareness about the dangers of and solutions to road salt pollution during Winter Salt Awareness Week. Abby Hileman,…
Salt Storage Solutions: Why Proper Road Salt Storage Matters for the Environment
As winter and freezing weather are ahead, there are a lot of preparations to be made. We homeowners may give a glance at the snow shovel when we start tidying…
Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring: A Win for Both Volunteers and Local Decision-Makers
When volunteers with the Izaak Walton League’s Virginia Save Our Streams (VA SOS) program in Christiansburg, Virginia, reached out to the town’s Environmental Program Supervisor, Patricia Colatosti, about monitoring water…
News from the Missouri River Initiative: August 2024
By Paul Lepisto The “Mighty Mo,” America’s longest river, flows past communities in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri – plus it receives water from Wyoming,…
Seeking the Source: What Could Be Causing Salt Pollution in the Spring?
When we see chloride spikes in the wintertime, it confirms our suspicions that road salt is in fact contributing to chloride pollution in local waterways. Chloride can linger or persist…
For the Sake of Clean Drinking Water, Pass a Better Farm Bill
Our natural resources connect us all—the water we drink, the climate we live in, the outdoors we enjoy. In the face of water quality concerns, a changing climate and more,…
Your kit will include a bottle containing 25 nitrate test strips which you can use to test your water source(s) throughout the year. You’ll also receive postcards explaining how to use your nitrate test strips and how to share your Nitrate Watch results on the Clean Water Hub.
Your kit will include four test strips so you can test your waterway throughout the season. You’ll also receive a chart to help you interpret your results and a postcard with instructions for completing a Salt Watch test and reporting your findings.