Usually we report about water conditions in a region getting worse but today we proudly announce that we recently stumbled across some news about improved water quality in a region. It feels good to deliver good news every once in a while, ya’ know?
So anyways, an independent environmental monitoring group in the Chesapeake Bay area (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) announced that results of recent water quality testing indicate definite improvements in the bay’s overall condition.
With its crab population rebounding and water quality slightly better, the Chesapeake Bay is showing signs of improvement, the region’s leading environmental group says, but the estuary remains seriously impaired and needs a strict pollution “diet” to ensure its restoration.
The Annapolis-based Chesapeake Bay Foundation upped the estuary’s overall health score by three points in its latest “state of the bay” report, while warning that it remains in critical condition, barely above a failing grade.
“That the bay is getting better is a huge development, but sadly not the whole story,” William C. Baker, the foundation’s president, said in a release accompanying the report. “Dead zones, fish kills and water contact advisories are constant reminders of how far we still must go.” ( source )
Got a body of water in your area that you’d like to keep an eye on? The Chesapeake Bay Foundation probably uses quite a few advanced tools such as multi-parameter meters to measure a wide range of critical water parameters but in all honesty, sometimes using simple tools such as a TDS Meter or Eco-Check, a very popular product which tests for nitrates, nitrites, hardness, total alkalinity, and pH all with a single dip of a test strip and typically costs less than $14.00 for a bottle of 25 tests.
Drastic changes in basic water quality parameters sometimes serve as warning signs that other, more serious water quality problems exist.
