Exploring Water at the Ekka

The International RiverFoundation (IRF) teamed up with Healthy Waterways, the Jacobs Well Environmental Education Centre and the Oxley Creek Catchment Associationand the Brisbane City Council to explore the quality of our local waterways at the Brisbane Ekka.

Thiess, an IRF major partner, kindly offered us a spot on the learning trail, where we took the opportunity to demonstrate one of the ways we can measure the water quality of our rivers. School groups, Minister Andrew Powell, and members of the public, both young and old, searched for macro-invertebrates in water samples which were taken from our local creeks. These critters were then inspected under a digital microscope and identified on a chart; their sensitivity ratings and the mixture of different species we found gave us an indication of the quality of the waterways they were taken from. We got some great, often surprising results, and this exercise was a huge success all round. 

A huge thank you goes out to Thiess, Healthy Waterways, the Jacobs Well Environmental Education Centre and the Oxley Creek Catchment Association and Brisbane City Council for all of their help