Virginia Beach
Community Water Quality Monitoring Program
The Virginia Aquarium Water Quality Lab performs 1500+ in-house
water analyses per week to ensure the health of the fresh and
saltwater systems within the Aquarium. It is also state-approved by
the Department of Environmental Quality to process environmental
samples from community volunteers and groups who are interested
in monitoring their local waterways. We would love to have you help
us by being involved in the monitoring of your local waterways and
provide you with water quality information on the water in your own
backyard!
What we test for you:
Chemistry panel:
pH, salinity, alkalinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, orthophosphate, total copper
Bacteria panel:
Total coliform bacteria, E. coli
By request:
Magnesium, calcium, chlorine, turbidity, color
How can you participate?
1. Volunteer as a Water Warrior
2. Sign up your community, school, or faith group
3. Donate
How to Volunteer:
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Fill out the participant information on the reverse side. Return it to the Aquarium or email to
[email protected].
Submit your testing donation to the Aquarium.
Wait to be contacted by the Water Quality Lab for your instructions. Follow the collection procedure to
collect your water.
Return your sample to the Aquarium on your assigned date, on ice, within 12 hours of collection.
Receive your personal results within 3 business days and look for your results on the water quality map
on the Aquarium website!
Are you a community, school, or faith group?
Contact the Aquarium directly to arrange for your customized Water Warrior group experience! Costs and
timelines are arranged based on group size and project.
Donate
Don’t want to get wet yourself but still want to help? The equipment, expertise, and labor are all donated by the
lab staff, but the chemicals and supplies are supported entirely by grants and participant donations.
Simply donate to the program to support the furthering of local monitoring efforts OR you can even request to
sponsor a specific location to be sampled. We will contact you when we find a volunteer to cover your location
and give you the data when it’s ready!
Water Monitoring Participant Form
Name: ___________________________
Date: ________________________
Email: ___________________________
Phone: ______________________
I want to:
____ Collect water myself
____ Arrange for a group program
____ Request to sponsor a site be sampled (please indicate site below)
____ I don’t need water collected, but would like to donate to the program
Sample location (if known): _______________________________________
Preferred day of week to take and turn in sample:
_____Monday
____Tuesday
______Wednesday
______Thursday
Choose your testing option:
____ 1x chem panel ($5)
____ One time bacteria panel ($10)
____ 1x chem + bacteria panel ($12)
Packages (all packages apply to repeat samples taken at the same sample site):
_____Lithium package (Set of 3 chem panels) ($10)
_____ Add bacteria (+$20)
_____Carbon package (Set of 6 chem panels) ($15)
_____Add bacteria (+$35)
_____Chromium package (1 nutrient + 1 bacteria panel per month for 12 months) ($100)
Includes participant car magnet
Why the dollar amount?
We kindly ask for a donation to cover the material cost of the tests performed, as this program is supported
solely by grants and donations. The equipment, expertise, and labor are all donated by the lab staff. The cost
of these same tests if you brought a sample to a commercial lab would be over $400!
Note: We do not provide analysis of tap water, pool water, or well water. Our data is provided for environmental
monitoring and informational purposes only and cannot be used for any regulatory purpose. We are not a
regulatory agency and do not provide assessments of the overall health of a system.