Blue Water Task Force
Surfrider Foundation's volunteer water quality monitoring program
Water Testing Labs
The Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) supported by Emergen-C Blue ® is the Surfrider Foundation’s volunteer-run, water testing, education and advocacy program. Our chapters use this program to alert citizens and officials in their communities about water quality problems and to work toward solutions. The BWTF has demonstrated success by identifying problems with beach and coastal water pollution, raising public awareness of these incidents and working collaboratively with local stakeholders to find and implement pollution solutions.
The BWTF has also precipitated the establishment of state and local government water quality monitoring programs in many communities and continues to fill in data gaps, improving the public's knowledge of the safety of their beach water. BWTF water testing programs measure bacteria levels at both marine and freshwater beaches and compare them to federal water quality standards established by the EPA to protect public health in recreational waters.
As clean water becomes an increasingly scarce resource, Emergen-C Blue is committed to supporting, enhancing and extending the efforts of the Blue Water Task Force. For every box of Emergen-C Blue sold, 20 cents is donated to the BWTF to further the important work it is doing to improve water quality.
Planning a Water Testing Program
BWTF Manual (includes methods description)
Sample Site Sheet & MPN Table for the Quantitray Sealer
How-to videos posted by IDEXX for using the Quantitray Method with Enterolert or Colilert
Video featuring Santa Monica High School students describing their testing program and their local pollution issues. Illustrates sample collection and reading lab results.
Reducing Plastic Waste: Using an Autoclave & Glassware in the Lab
Source Tracking Guide for Bacterial Pollution
For more, see our Blue Water Task Force page on Beachapedia.
January 18 2012
New Beach Water Quality Standards?
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality Illness
As surfers, swimmers and beach goers we rely on water quality monitoring to know if it is safe to go into the ocean. That monitoring relies on water quality standards to determine your risk of getting sick. EPA has reassessed those standards, and Surfrider is weighing in on them.
December 19 2011
Corona del Mar High School
The Newport Beach Chapter’s Teach and Test Program reaches 800 students from seven area high schools every year. At Corona del Mar High School, science teacher Kim Rapp, has worked BWTF water testing into her curriculum for her eleventh and twelfth grade AP Environmental Science classes.
November 30 2011
BWTF Students Paddle Out for a Bag Free LA
Blue Water Task Force Youth Rise Above Plastics Bag Bans
The Heal the Bay Surfrider Club at Santa Monica High School organized a paddle out to bring attention to the bacteria and plastic pollution that heavy rains in October brought to their beaches. Read their press release.
November 11 2011
BWTF training in Port Orford, Oregon
Check out this great photo montage documenting the BWTF training for the Driftwood Middle School and Pacific High School students in Port Orford, Oregon.
October 17 2011
THE CLEAN WATER ACT: 39 YEARS LATER
Blue Water Task Force Partnerships Water Quality
On the 39th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, Alacer Corp., maker of Emergen-C Blue vitamin drink mix, announces that, in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation, they are working to raise awareness about the need for clean water and alert communities about water quality issues through the Blue Water Task Force.
October 13 2011
Santa Monica HS Students Report First Flush of Bacteria and Plastics
Blue Water Task Force Youth Rise Above Plastics
The students at Santa Monica High School who run the West LA/Malibu Chapter's Blue Water Task Force program sent out this press release to alert their community about the bacteria and plastic garbage load that flowed out to their beaches after the first heavy rains this fall. Pretty gruesome photos......
September 29 2011
A New Beach Bill in the Senate
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality
The Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2011 has just been introduced into the U. S. Senate by Senators Frank Lautenberg, a democrat from NJ, and Mark Kirk, a republican from Illinois.
September 19 2011
Program Expansion in Puerto Rico
Blue Water Task Force Partnerships Youth
The Rincon Chapter's BWTF expands further into Isabella with the help of the their local partner Rescate Playas Isabela, the Ramey School in Aguadilla, and the Newport Beach Surfrider Chapter.
September 13 2011
Welcome Vancouver!
The Vancouver Surfrider Chapter is one of the most recent additions to the Blue Water Task Force.
August 17 2011
Looking for Answers to Pollution in Cannon Beach, Oregon
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality
The Blue Water Task Force program on the North Coast of Oregon has been working with the City of Cannon Beach to document the pollution problem at Ecola Court since 2009.
July 11 2011
Source Tracking in Puerto Rico
Blue Water Task Force Partnerships Source Identification
The Rincon Chapter's BWTF has been participating in a University of Puerto Rico, source study of bacterial pollution in the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve.
July 01 2011
Testing the Waters 2011
Blue Water Task Force Partnerships Solutions Source Identification Water Quality
NRDC released their annual Testing the Waters report this week. There were over 24,000 beach closures and advisories issued in 2010, the second highest level of the past two decades.
June 30 2011
Bacteria Pollution at Larrabee Park, Washington
Blue Water Task Force Partnerships Source Identification Water Quality
The Northwest Straits Chapter fears continued high bacteria levels at popular beach may lead to a permanent beach closure.
May 17 2011
South Bay Chapter Hosts Teach and Test Program Year-end Party and Presentations
On May 15th at SEA Lab in Redondo Beach, 29 students from 5 South Bay high schools participating in the Surfrider Foundation’s Teach and Test Program presented their results that reflect seven months of water quality testing at 15 South Bay beaches as well as the Ballona Creek Wetlands.
May 05 2011
Flexing Our New Website to Engage - Newport, Oregon
Blue Water Task Force Partnerships Youth
The Newport, Oregon Chapter is working on an Ocean’s Today Kiosk, that will live at the Oregon Coast Aquarium with nearly 1 million visitors per year. The kiosk will rotate screens about the local BWTF program, it has QR codes embedded for visitors to link directly to our website, learn more and engage in our program. Below is a link to a pdf of the actual screen shots that will appear in the kiosk. Check it out!
April 15 2011
Teach and Test at the LA County Science Fair
Today student leaders from Santa Monica High School's Teach and Test program exhibited at the Los Angeles County Science Fair.
April 14 2011
One Year Later - Still Oil in the Sand
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality Oil Spill
Surfrider volunteers recently conducted testing for oil and dispersants in the sand at Dune Allen Beach in Florida. The volunteers used a special ultraviolet light which revealed veins of what has been termed a “crude/Corexit compound” in the sand. Surfrider Foundation will communicate their findings and methods with BP to promote environmental conservation and public health during the ongoing cleanup effort.
April 06 2011
Testing Gulf Beaches for Oil and Dispersants
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality Oil Spill
Check out these videos describing the Emerald Coast Chapter's new venture testing beach sand for oil and dispersant contamination using UV light.
March 30 2011
Blue Water Task Force on Kaua’i
The Kaua'i Chapter tests local beaches and rivers for bacteria and has been doing a great job of communicating their results and what they may indicate to the local community. They have also been trying to get the State to test more beaches themselves and improve public notification of pollution events.
