Take part

Discover the health of your local pond and help scientists with valuable research

Take part in the OPAL water survey and discover what animals living in the water can tell us about its quality. It's fun, you'll learn new skills and your results will help scientists learn more about the health of lakes and ponds across the country.

What you need to get started

All the instructions and guides you will need can be downloaded below. You'll also require a few household items (listed in the field guide) and if possible some pH strips (available from most garden centres).

Some of you will have received one of our survey packs. These contain all the necessary downloads and pH strips, so there is no need for you to download the items below.

We strongly recommend that you print all documents in colour.

 

Please show care and respect to our environment.

Ponds and lakes are home to many important creatures.

Finding a pond

Before you start your survey, you'll need to choose a suitable pond or lake. You may already have somewhere in mind, but if not we've prepared a guide on the many tools you can use to find somewhere suitable near you.

Downloads - what you need to take part

Workbook (PDF, 1MB) - Background information and recording sheet

 

Field guide (PDF, 1.8MB) - Full instructions and invertebrate guide

 

OPALometer (PDF, 172KB) - A printable OPALometer

 

Amphibian identification guide (PDF, 435KB)

 

Dragonfly identification guide (PDF, 311KB)

 

Duckweed identification guide (PDF, 264KB)

 

Alternatively, download the whole survey pack as one zip file

Complete water survey pack (ZIP, 3.7MB) - All the instructions, guides and downloads above in one zip file

 

 

Group leader and safety information

Group leaders may benefit from our support pack with information and ideas on planning a group event, and additional safety information from the Royal Society for the Protection of Accidents (RoSPA).