Community Site Program

What is the Community Site Program?

The aim of this program is to expand our monitoring efforts by providing the tools and resources through our Toolkit for community members to lead a “community site” for water monitoring. Community Sites are water monitoring sites where local community groups carry out the collection of water quality data without Swim Drink Fish staff support during the monitoring work. Community sites exist in conjunction with local Swim Drink Fish hubs.

Who is this program suitable for?

  • Groups wishing to monitor the water at a location that is not currently monitored by public health units or any other monitoring bodies

  • Groups that can deliver samples to a Swim Drink Fish lab for processing and analyzing

  • Groups that are willing to commit to at least 3 months of monitoring at the same location

  • Groups interested in monitoring the water but have limited capacity to begin a program on their own

What is the Commitment?

  • This is when you’ll decide the who, what, when, where, and why of our monitoring program. You’ll work with Swim Drink Fish staff to choose a site, create a monitoring plan, and prepare the documents and tools you need for sampling.

  • To ensure water quality results are accurate, a mix of virtual and in-person training must be completed. You'll be trained using the Swim Drink Fish Protocol. Training takes 3 sessions and one 'test' to ensure you're comfortable with the protocol.

  • You're ready to go! You’ll carry out your monitoring depending on what is decided during the planning phase. Monitoring at a site takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Your travel time should also be considered.

The amount of time spent on each component will vary. Overall, you should expect to commit at least 1-2 hours per week. The planning phase should take between 2-4 days. Monitoring should happen at a minimum bi-weekly frequency over 16 weeks.

Section 1: Planning

  • Swim Drink Fish recreational water quality monitoring is conducted at sites that meet the following three criteria:

    1. People are actively using the water (e.g., swimming, paddling, fishing)

    2. There is no water quality testing taking place, or the testing is infrequent or covers too broad an area

    3. There are questions or concerns about the water quality, and the site is vulnerable to pollution

  • Figure out the who, what, where, and why of your monitoring program. Review the monitoring plan document and set up a meeting with Swim Drink Fish staff to customize a copy of this document for your team. Swim Drink Fish staff will support you in many parts of the plan carry-out.

  • You'll head to your chosen site with Swim Drink Fish staff to:

    1. Complete an Environmental Health and Safety Survey

    2. Choose/confirm sampling locations at the site

    3. Take preliminary water samples

  • By creating a Swim Guide page, you’re able to publicly share information about your monitoring work. Swim Drink Fish staff will work with you to create a page.

  • We'll work with you to make sure you have all the documents and tools you'll need to bring into the field. This includes customized field datasheets and data management sheets and customized "into the field guide", including helpful tips to follow while out sampling, site maps, kit checklist, and a common local sightings index.

Section 2: Training

  • At a minimum, one person from a community site team must be trained to this standard. This person must be present during sampling. We recommend having multiple people trained to ensure you're able to support each other.

    Each person takes a different amount of time to get comfortable with the sampling protocol. However, participation in at least two sampling sessions is required to complete your training.

  • Virtual training is completed at home by joining one of our live training sessions at the beginning of the monitoring season or watching a pre-recorded version. After watching this training, you'll be required to complete a quiz.

  • Option 1: Join our regular monitoring

    If joining our existing monitoring program is feasible, this is the preferred option. You'll join Swim Drink Fish staff at an existing monitoring site to carry out sampling.

    Option 2: Program-specific training

    If you're unable to join our regular monitoring program, Swim Drink Fish staff can work with you to arrange an alternate training program.

  • Once you're confident in your skills and you're ready to begin sampling at your new site, Swim Drink Fish staff will arrange a site visit with you where you'll go to the new site and carry out sampling.

  • If interested, you can also be trained in and participate in the following:

    • Preparing samples for analysis in our office lab.

    • If available, 24 hours after samples are prepared, assist with sample analysis to determine e-coli levels and data management and sharing.

Section 3: Monitoring

At this point, you’re ready to get out into the field and start monitoring the waters that matter to you! During regular monitoring you’ll be responsible for;

  1. Collecting water samples

  2. Recording environmental observations

  3. Transporting samples to the lab

  4. Maintaining your equipment

FAQs

When's the best time to start the program?

Because preparation can take some time depending on your capacity and previous knowledge about the site you're hoping to monitor, we recommend starting to prepare for a future monitoring site over the winter season (November-May). This way, it's easier to align training with our standard summer season training of community scientists that takes place during the summer months.

Is there a cost associated with this work?

Yes. The cost of sampling supplies, equipment maintenance, and staff time for training and lab work does have a direct cost to Swim Drink Fish. Where feasible, we do try to work with community groups to cover these costs through direct donations, fundraising, or grants. We want to ensure cost is not a barrier to accessing the program, so regardless of financial capacity, please reach out if you're interested in this program.

I am interested in leading a community site, how do I get started?

That’s great! Please email us about your interest and we will provide you with additional resources and information to get you started. Please note, at this time, we’re only able to offer the program through our year-round hubs in Toronto and Vancouver. However, if you’re interested in starting this program elsewhere in Canada, still send us a note.