The OPAL Water survey was developed to help provide a national picture of where water health is a problem.
Improving the water environment increases aquatic biodiversity and contributes to a healthier environment.

The survey assesses the health of a lake or pond by investigating which animals and plants
are living in and around it. So first, we had to carefully catch some of the pond life.

The creatures we identified included a whole range of caddisfly larvae (in intricately constructed cases),
water beetles, freshwater shrimps, water slaters, water snails, pond skaters and tadpoles.

We had a fascinating set of results and found a whole host of aquatic invertebrate species
proving the water quality of both locations was very good.

The OPAL Water survey is the third national OPAL survey.
You can take part in all of the surveys by downloading materials from www.opalexplorenature.org.

If you would like to help scientists answer important questions about water quality and are interested
in taking part in the OPAL Water Survey find out more on the website www.opalexplorenature.org.
The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network is an exciting new initiative, open to anyone with an interest
in nature, developing a wide range of local and national programmes to encourage people
from all backgrounds to get back in touch with nature.

The project also generates valuable scientific data concerning the state of our environment.
The entire OPAL portfolio is headed by Imperial College, London.