M E D I A
RELEASE
Media and
Communications
Tel. +61 3 9925 3176
Fax +61 3 9662 2739
MELBOURNE
BRUNSWICK
BUNDOORA
FISHERMAN’S BEND
POINT COOK
HAMILTON
HO CHI MINH CITY
HANOI
Getting serious about protecting Victoria’s rivers
Victorians are stepping up the fight to protect our rivers, creeks and bays with the
launch of an independent, not-for-profit organisation, Community Waterwatch.
The community-owned organisation will use a sophisticated website developed by
RMIT University students to track sources of pollution entering local waterways,
including toxic chemicals, heavy metals, excess nutrients, and sediment run-off.
The site, created by seven postgraduate and two undergraduate students, will
gather data from hundreds of community and school groups who monitor the
health of rivers across Victoria.
Community Waterwatch Managing Director, Keir Jarvis, said some groups had
been collecting detailed information about the health of Victoria’s waterways for
more than 10 years.
“Until now, there has been no easy way for them to share what they know with the
rest of the community,” Mr Jarvis said.
“Today we are asking Waterwatch groups from across the state to post their
information on this new website.
“For the first time all Victorians will be able to quickly and easily find out about the
health of local waterways in every major catchment, based on data collected by
their own communities.”
RMIT lecturer Andy Song, from the School of Computer Science and Information
Technology, said the site used Googlemaps to pinpoint the exact location of
community monitoring sites and included an online database where Waterwatch
volunteers could upload data as they collected it.
“We are now working on enabling volunteers to SMS water quality information to
the site through their mobile phones, so pollution events can be recorded in real-
time,” Mr Song said.
Photo Opportunity
What: Members of Waterwatch groups test the health of local creeks and rivers
Where: Creeks, rivers and waterways across Melbourne
Contact: Keir Jarvis, 0408 342 515
For interviews: Community Waterwatch Managing Director, Keir Jarvis, 0408
342 515 or Andy Song, 0403 248 319.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Media and Communications,
Gosia Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
22 July, 2008
NEWS 
