Close Menu
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

What's On

Future-Proof Your Wi-Fi With This Prime Day Wi-Fi 7 Router Deal

12 July 2025

Amazon Prime Day Sale 2025: Best Deals on OnePlus Smartphones

12 July 2025

These 142 Last-Chance Prime Day Deals Are Still On–For Now

12 July 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Just In
  • Future-Proof Your Wi-Fi With This Prime Day Wi-Fi 7 Router Deal
  • Amazon Prime Day Sale 2025: Best Deals on OnePlus Smartphones
  • These 142 Last-Chance Prime Day Deals Are Still On–For Now
  • Scientists Succeed in Reversing Parkinson’s Symptoms in Mice
  • Amazon Prime Day Sale 2025: Best Deals on Vivo and iQOO Smartphones
  • This Is DOGE 2.0
  • Amazon Prime Day Sale 2025: Best Deals on Laptops Under Rs. 50,000
  • 5 Big EV Takeaways From Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release
Subscribe
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
Home » Brace Yourself For the Comeback of Citizen Scientists
News

Brace Yourself For the Comeback of Citizen Scientists

News RoomBy News Room20 March 20243 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit Telegram Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Richard Battarbee spent his entire life studying freshwater ecology as an academic at University College London—but it was only when he retired to Yorkshire that he found himself on the frontline of a battle to save a river. Fishermen in the town of Ilkley near where he lived started catching condoms, wet wipes and sanitary towels on their lines. Residents were noticing that fish and other animals were dying en masse. The water was discolored every time it rained heavily. Something was wrong in the river Wharfe.

Battarbee, along with other local members of the Wharfedale Naturalists Society, suspected that the real cause of the pollution was a sewage outflow further down the river run by Yorkshire Water, the region’s privatized water company.

But when the government and Yorkshire Water all refused to help, the residents of Ilkley turned to citizen science, research conducted by the general public that is not only helping to change the way citizens protect their environment, but making many question the entirety of our scientific institutions.

That can range from designing and leading studies into certain issues to just helping to collate data on something.

In Ilkley, residents’ concerns were rebuffed by the council and Yorkshire Water, the local water company responsible for sewage outflow into the river. The UK’s Environment Agency (EA), whose budget has been slashed from £120m to £48m since 2010, said it wasn’t able to investigate or even monitor the river’s contamination.

Unable to get help, locals now working under the name the Ilkley Clean River Group, took it on themselves to scientifically prove the extent of the problem.

Battarbee suspected the real threat wasn’t the rubbish and excrement you could see, but the invisible pathogens that now filled the river—a popular wild swimming spot for thousands of people each year. “There was absolutely no data on the concentration of pathogens in the river associated with effluent going into it,” he explains. “I couldn’t find any protocols out there, so I just did what any scientist would do really and looked at the literature and worked out a methodology.”

But running a scientific study with a group of volunteer citizens is harder than it seems. Unable to rely on university grants like most scientists, the Ilkley Clean River Group had to raise the money to pay for professional water sampling themselves. Then there was gathering the samples themselves—leading a group of untrained locals to collect up to 100 samples from different parts of the river. Once they had the samples, each had to be properly stored below eight degrees Celsius and sent to a lab in Coventry in 24 hours, in order to get any reliable results.

In the end, Battarbee’s research found sky-high levels of pathogens in the river, caused by the dumping of sewage. According to their data, the water near the sewage outflows in Ilkley contained between 32 and 43 times the amounts of E. coli bacteria acceptable for a recreational bathing site.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleNothing Phone 2a Gets Camera and Performance Improvements With Nothing OS 2.5.4 Update
Next Article NYT Mini Crossword today: puzzle answers for Wednesday, March 20

Related Articles

News

Future-Proof Your Wi-Fi With This Prime Day Wi-Fi 7 Router Deal

12 July 2025
News

These 142 Last-Chance Prime Day Deals Are Still On–For Now

12 July 2025
News

Scientists Succeed in Reversing Parkinson’s Symptoms in Mice

12 July 2025
News

This Is DOGE 2.0

12 July 2025
News

5 Big EV Takeaways From Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

12 July 2025
News

Power Up With This Prime Day Deal on Anker’s Best Power Bank

12 July 2025
Demo
Top Articles

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024101 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views

Oppo Reno 14, Reno 14 Pro India Launch Timeline and Colourways Leaked

27 May 202582 Views

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Latest News
News

This Is DOGE 2.0

News Room12 July 2025
Laptops

Amazon Prime Day Sale 2025: Best Deals on Laptops Under Rs. 50,000

News Room12 July 2025
News

5 Big EV Takeaways From Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

News Room12 July 2025
Most Popular

The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman

13 January 2025124 Views

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024101 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views
Our Picks

Scientists Succeed in Reversing Parkinson’s Symptoms in Mice

12 July 2025

Amazon Prime Day Sale 2025: Best Deals on Vivo and iQOO Smartphones

12 July 2025

This Is DOGE 2.0

12 July 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
© 2025 Best in Technology. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.