Stroud Scientists
& Educators Present

Our ability to disseminate our findings to a broad audience allows us to increase awareness and create a public dialogue centered on the protection, preservation and restoration of watersheds everywhere. It’s for that reason that our scientists and educators engage in both scientific and public forums to share their findings. The following highlights recent presentations.

Addressing Public Health Issues at the Source
The Use of DNA Barcoding in Water Analysis
Harvesting Rainwater
Water Where You Want it
Streamside Forest Buffers Preserving Water Quality

ADDRESSING PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES AT THE SOURCE
Bern Sweeney, director of the Stroud Water Research Center, recently joined an all staff meeting at the Chester County Health Department to present Water Quality and Public Health Issues in the Mid-Atlantic Region: An Ecologist’s Perspective. Sweeney set the tone for his audience by underscoring how many water related health issues begin at the factory, the farm, and in our own households. He went on to convey that many of these issues can be avoided by employing best management practices (BMPs) at the source.
 
The health department, Sweeney argued, is essentially at the front lines in the battle for water quality and in a great position to connect the dots between our actions and water quality — potentially stopping some of those problems before they get started.
 
A good time to convey BMPs to a homeowner, he stated as an example, is during the installation and inspection of a septic system. Water conservation in the home can go a long way to ensure better functioning of a septic tank or any wastewater treatment system. So, Sweeney explained, going beyond general maintenance and pumping schedules to explain to the owner just how the system works, what chemicals to avoid, and what can overload the system causing poorly treated sewage to enter our water supply would be a great start.

For more information about Chester County Health Department, go to:
http://dsf.chesco.org/health/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=603389

return to top

To learn more about the International Barcode of Life project, go to:
http://www.ibolproject.org/home.html

For more information about the Conference, go to:
http://www.dnabarcodes2009.org/program1.html

return to top

HARVESTING RAINWATER
Throughout the world rainwater capture is a common strategy to supply water requirements for human use, including potable drinking water. However, in the United States, rainwater is permitted only for non-potable human uses. This is due to a lack of research documenting the feasibility of collecting and treating rainwater to meet regulatory standards suitable for protecting the health and well being of the public. In an effort to promote smarter and more efficient water use throughout the region, Bern Sweeney, director of the Stroud Water Research Center, made a presentation regarding rainwater reuse at a meeting involving the US Environmental Protection Agency Region III’s State Water Directors in Newark, DE last November. Sweeney’s presentation was entitled Rainwater Capture and Re-Use as Potable Drinking Water: A Proof of Concept Study.

return to top

WATER WHERE YOU WANT IT
Stroud Water Research Center educator, Vivian Williams, presented Water Where You Want It, a lecture designed to underscore the link between forests and good water quality and outline tactics that homeowners can employ to prevent the problems associated with rainwater runoff. Williams addressed audiences at the annual meeting of the North Branch Neshaminy Watershed Association in Bucks County, PA in January, and as part of Bucks County Conservation District’s Citizen Scientist series last fall.

The five-week “Citizen Scientist Training Program: Pay it Forward in Your Watershed” project, was developed to educate homeowners living along streams and creeks about best practices for watershed stewardship; it focused on how to maintain riparian areas for the health of the waterway.

For more information about the Bucks County, PA “Citizen Scientist Training Program: Pay it Forward in Your Watershed” program, go to:
http://www.bucksccd.org/news_events.htm

return to top

STREAMSIDE FOREST BUFFERS PRESERVING WATER QUALITY

Bern Sweeney, director of the Stroud Water Research Center, tells GreenTrek Networks about best management practices (BMPs) that reduce or prevent rainwater runoff, including streamside forests, and how programs are available to assist landowners in planting them.

Says Sweeney, “The science is now clear, that the widespread implementation of streamside forest buffers is one of the simplest, most cost-effective approaches to eliminating many of the problems in the Chesapeake Bay.”

Having problems viewing the embedded video? Want to share it on Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace? You’ll find the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AoGeVAP6vo

return to top