Written by Jocelyn Bertovich, Onboard Educator, Clearwater
Is the Hudson River clean and healthy? When I asked the students from P.S. 2 in New York to look out from the 79th Street Boat Basin and answer the question, with an incredible enthusiasm, they screamed, “NOOO!” Actually, that is the answer I typically hear from students from all over the Hudson valley. Well, it’s kind of a loaded question, is the Hudson clean? Define “clean”. Is it clean enough to drink? Is it clean enough to swim in? Is it clean enough for fish to live happily? Can you determine if the water is clean and healthy from the way it looks? During a recent three-hour Classroom of the Waves program, we set out to answer these questions using chemistry.
Students are often surprised to discover that the Hudson River is, in fact, “cleaner” than they anticipated. Much like a doctor will run tests to see if a patient is healthy, we gathered water quality data and used it to determine if the river is healthy. The parameters we tested were pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, and turbidity. The good news is that data we collected was mostly indicative of a healthy estuarine ecosystem. The two-part take home message is that you cannot always look out over the river and see the condition of the water, and, the mighty Hudson is capable of recovery as long as the next generations are invested in maintaining its health.
Are you really interested in the water quality data where we sail? Check out the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System (HRECOS). Clearwater is key part of this observation system and serves as a mobile water quality monitoring station.
