Who can Participate
The Dip-In is open to any qualified individual in the world that monitors transparency, temperature, or pH in rivers, streams, estuaries, lakes, or reservoirs.  The Dip-In encourages the participation of volunteer monitoring programs, since we are trying to support existing programs, not compete with them.  However, qualified persons who measure transparency as a part of their profession but are not part of a volunteer program may also participate.

When to Go
Try to take your measurements on any day during the Dip-In.  You are also welcome to enter data for other days during the year. 

Try to collect the data between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  Please don’t forget to mark AM or PM on the form, even though it may seem obvious to you (we do have volunteers going out at 8 AM and 8 PM).  If you are measuring transparency, attempt to sample on bright, calm days, however this may not always be possible.  Please do not go out if it is raining, if there is abnormally high boat traffic, or if your safety would be at risk. 

Where to Go
We only ask that you go to the sampling site that you normally go to for routine monitoring.  We appreciate the efforts some volunteers go to to obtain more data, but it certainly isn't required.  If you do go to more than one lake or site, especially one that you do not normally monitor, be sure to give us an accurate description of where it is so that we can map it.  Enter the data for each site separately.

What and How to Sample
Follow your normal monitoring procedures and report the data that you normally measure.  Do not use a technique or method that is not approved by your coordinating program (This is important!)

Data Sheet Entries

If you would like to take a copy of the questionnaire with you when you sample, shortened version is available for download, but please submit your data on the Web entry form.   Click Here to Download the Questionnaire

Some of the data can be recorded before you go to your sampling site.  Please try to fill in as much as possible on-shore, except for the specific site data (time, transparency, water depth, etc.).  

Volunteer Name, Address, and Phone Number:    Please be sure to add your address, telephone number, and e-mail address in case we have questions about your answers.  The best way to avoid an e-mail or a phone call from us is to carefully fill in all blanks.

Put the name of the trained volunteer who takes the readings.  Do not put the names of  guests on the form.  You will speed the data entry process if you enter your name(s) as they are listed on mailings coming to you from your volunteer monitoring coordinator.  

Site Name and Location:  Please enter the official name of the site.  This should be the same as the one you report to the monitoring program, but you can check with the following place name databases to be sure.  Help us locate the site by providing information on the county the site located and the ZIP or Postal Code of the site or nearest town.   Some lakes and streams straddle several counties, so put the name of the county where your site is located.  We also appreciate longitude and latitude coordinates of your site.  You can obtain information on official site names and locations at the following websites:  

Map Coordinates (US only): A site is unknown

Town and Waterbody Names (US): The USGS GNIS Database

            Town and Waterbody Names (Canada): http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/

If your program has given your site an official identifying label, be sure to mark that down.  This helps when we supply the data back to your program. 

Instruments   
We accept several types of data:  Transparency and Turbidity, Temperature, and pH.  

Be sure to fill in the type of  instrument you are using and, especially important, the units (feet, inches, meters, centimeters, etc) in which the reading is measured.
 

Secchi Disk is usually an 8-inch (20 cm) disk with alternating black and white quadrants. Some programs use an all-white disk.  The disk is lowered into the water of a lake until it can be no longer seen by the observer. This depth of disappearance, called the Secchi depth. Some programs view the disk through a viewscope.  Some of these viewscopes have a bottom lens and others use an open end.
Turbidity Tube (Sediment stick or other similar name) is a clear tube with  some sort of marking on the inside bottom.  The tube is filled with water until the marker cannot be seen.  The tube is often used in streams where the depth is too shallow for a Secchi disk to be used successfully.
LaMotte® turbidity column:  The LaMotte Company has a turbidity test (7519) that uses a “Turbidity Column" that measures turbidity against a formazin standard.  This measures turbidity in Jackson Turbidity Units (JTU).	Lamotte ® Turbidity Column
Turbidity meter or turbidimeter is an electric device that measures turbidity.  Depending on the model, turbidity is normally measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) or Formazin Turbidity Units (FTU).	Hach ® Portable Turbidimeter
Vertical Black Disk consists of a black disk held vertically and observed through an inverted periscope.  It is used in shallow water situations and may even be a better measure of clarity than a Secchi disk.  See the following site for a description. http://depts.washington.edu/cssuw/Publications/FactSheets/secchic.pdf
Temperature is measured by a number of devices, both electronic and mechanical.  Readings can be reported in degrees Fahrenheit (F) or in degrees Celsius (C).
pH is an estimate of the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution.  It is measured by a number of devices, both with electronic and with paper indicator strips.	Hydrion® pH papers

   
Water Quality Questions
We are very interested in your perception of the quality of the water and the factors that affect that perception.

Water Quality:  Mark the number that best describes your opinion on how suitable the lake water is for recreation and aesthetic enjoyment. The term “overall water quality” should include your general impression of the quality of the lake over the past few weeks.  Do not include factors such as weather.

1.         Beautiful, could not be any nicer.  
2.         Very minor  problems; excellent for the this purpose.
3.         Use for this purpose slightly impaired.
4.         Desire to use the lake for this purpose substantially reduced.
5.         Enjoyment of the lake for this purpose nearly impossible.

Management Practices: Please describe what efforts are being taken to protect or improve water quality.  We are interested in whether our waterbodies are being protected from pollution.  If you have answered this question for us in the past and there is no new news, you don't have to answer again.