In collaboration with the town of Chapel Hill, UNC and OWASA, eighth-grade Culbreth Middle School teachers and students have started a water-quality testing program as part of the eighth-grade science curriculum.
Wendy Smith, environmental education director for the Town of Chapel Hill, worked with fellow teachers to assist students with the collection and analysis of data from a small groundwater stream located at the bottom of a drainage basin behind the school. Students spent two days performing various water-quality tests on the stream and compared their findings to other waterways throughout the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.
Culbreth has agreed to adopt the stream and serve as future stewards to maintain the healthy water quality of the waterway by cleaning trash and continually testing the water.