World Water Monitoring Day 2023

It is one of the most important liquids in our lives, even though it is often undervalued – water. You can’t live without it. Our bodies are up to 60% water. Indeed, drinking water is crucial. The water that surrounds us and that is coming out of our tap, however, is often of different quality. It may easily become polluted, so it is very important to protect and monitor its quality. It is therefore a good idea to join an annual worldwide event – World Water Monitoring Day.

Although the observance, also known as EarthEcho Water Challenge, takes place every year on September 18, it is actually a global educational outreach programme. It was established in 2003 by America’s Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) in order to educate people and encourage them to monitor the quality of local water resources. Everyone taking part in the event can buy an inexpensive test kit that enables even the youngest participants to sample water bodies around them. Test kits reveal different water quality parameters, such as temperature, acidity (pH), clarity, or dissolved oxygen. After getting the findings, it is very important for the participants to do one more thing – enter the data online and share the results of the test with the whole community. Many people do that through their social media with photos and appropriate hashtags attached. Others also enter the data into the sponsor’s international database. This enables everyone to check the information and resources on the website and take action to protect their local water resources. There are many options of doing that: present the data to local officials, organize a cleaning event, or think of a project restoring water resources.

The official website of the event informs that the programme is being realized in 146 countries of the world with over 1,600,000 participants. This means that since 2003 more and more people are interested in taking care of our planet and monitoring the quality of water surrounding them. In the preceding years the date of the event has also been expanded. Instead of only one day, participants can conduct their monitoring activities at any time between March 22, which is known as World Water day, and the end of December.

Did you know?

The initial date of the event was chosen to be a month later, on October 18. This date was the anniversary of establishing the US Clean Water Act, which was enacted in order to restore and protect water resources in the USA. It seemed that, indeed, the date was the most appropriate one then. However, in some parts of the world the second part of October was the time of low temperatures, which could result in freezing water. For this reason, the date was changed in 2007 in order to encourage people from all regions to participate in the event.