WEF, IWA Announce Monitoring Challenge Winners

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Intl. Water Assn. (IWA) announced the winners of the fourth annual World Water Monitoring Challenge (WWMC) Water Champion Awards. The program also started its 2013 monitoring period, which will run through Dec. 31, 2013.

Initiated in 2009, the WWMC Water Champion Awards recognize program participants for outstanding achievement in boosting awareness of water quality issues. Winners are chosen by a subcommittee of the WWMC regional panel of judges, which is composed of water industry professionals from around the world.

Water Champion Awards recognize superior levels of relevance, educational effort, support and innovation in the promotion of water quality through the WWMC program. The 2012 winners, announced today, include:

• Africa—Pedagogic In-Service Training Programme (Group, Cameroon) and Dawid DeWet (Individual, South Africa)
• Asia—NatureWize (Group, China) and Minakshi Arora (Individual, India)
• Australia/Oceania—Seqwater (Group, Australia) and Wollondilly Anglican College (Group Runner-up, Australia)
• Europe—Animex Foods (Group, Poland) and Municipal Center for Extracurricular Activities (Group Runner-up, Bulgaria)
• North America—Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Environmental Education (Group, United States) and Jackie Turner (Individual, United States)
• South America—Club de Ciencias Bénticos (Group, Uruguay) and Rogério Lafayette Pinto (Individual, Brazil)

Award recipients will receive a commemorative plaque and WWMC materials of their choosing up to a value of $500. Items selected may include any combination of water monitoring equipment, relevant resources or promotional materials.

Coordinated by WEF and IWA, WWMC is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world. The annual program connects citizens with their local water bodies through a series of simple, hands-on monitoring tests.

Over a quarter-million visits were made by people worldwide to their local streams, rivers, lakes and other water bodies as part of WWMC in 2012. WWMC receives financial and in-kind support from the program’s primary sponsors including the U.S. Geological Survey, Xylem Inc. and Smithfield Foods.

Click here for more details about the award winners. 

Source: WEF, IWA