High school students to conduct water quality testing on Maumee River

Perrysburg High School students in the Ecology class and the Environmental Club will wade into the Maumee River to do water quality testing on Thursday.

The testing will be near Hood Park, at Lousiana Avenue in Perrysburg.

The Student Watershed Watch, now in its 24th year, teaches students about water quality through hands-on testing and presentation of findings.

On testing day, students will fan out to watershed across northwest Ohio, take note of conditions and take measurements on water speed, temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, amount of phosphorus and other nutrients. The students will collect larvae and macroinvertebrates, which can be an indication of water quality.

Back in the classroom, students will compare their findings with previous years’ findings, chart the data, and make an analysis of water quality.

Some schools have been testing the same locations for two decades and have acquired significant data. Many classrooms will be looking to solve a problem statement or question that the class has developed.

Then, the Student Watershed Watch students will gather Nov. 14 to present findings at a summit at the University of Toledo Scott Park campus.