Water-Related News

Leesburg High School students to test water quality

To make sure her AP Environmental Science students are ready for the AP exam in May, Leesburg High School instructor Tessa Clark is thinking outside the box...; and outside the textbooks and classrooms.

With the help of nearly $2,000 from the Lake County Water Authority (LCWA), Clark will purchase waste water treatment kits, biological factors kits, nitrate water test kits and digital soil test kits and in February will transport 50 students to Lake Louisa State Park, Leesburg Canal Street Waste Water Treatment Facility and Bourlay Historic Nature Park so the students can test the quality of water.

"The purpose of the soil kits is for students to understand that there are nitrates and phosphates in the soil that occur naturally but with local agriculture and golf courses, these nutrients can run off into our waterways and have a negative impact on aquatic systems," she wrote in her application for the Water Resource Education Mini-Grant worth $1,976.48.

The mini-grant is part of the LCWA's "Drop-by-Drop: You Make a Difference!" program, and is designed to promote freshwater resource education in schools by awarding grants that focus on issues that affect local water resources. Since 2001, the LCWA Board has awarded more than $390,000 to local educators.

Students will have to keep journals of their findings.