‘We were all really surprised’ at the quality of water in Grand Canal and Liffey

FIFTH class pupils of a Ballyfermot National School have found that the water quality in the nearby Grand Canal and river Liffey is poor.

“The water from the Liffey was really dirty, yellow and had some small particles.

“The Canal water was slightly yellow with twigs and some vegetation,” said Ridwanah Ahmed Abukar, one of the pupils who carried out the tests.

As part of their investigations the pupils from St Raphael’s NS also tested the pH of the water, which is an indication of how acidic it is.

The pH scale goes from 0, the most acidic, to 14, the most basic.

“We were all really surprised with how bad the pH of the Canal and the Liffey were,” said Ridwanah.

“The pupils found pH readings of 10 and 9 respectively, for the Grand Canal and the river Liffey.

“However, the pupils found that the water quality at Sandymount beach was good.

“The sea water was clear with grains of sand and a few shells but the PH [which was 8] was good,” said Ridwanah.

Pupils on a research field trip

The 5th class pupils’ teacher is Paul Gleeson.

“We conducted the test in February and found that the water quality could be better,” he said.

The pupils conducted their project as part of the Young Environmentalists Awards and the ESB Science Blast.

“We are going to the Science Blast in the RDS tomorrow [Tuesday, March 05],” he said.

The Ballyfermot school have also reached the semi-finals of the Young Environmentalists Awards, which are being held in Dundrum this week.  

Here the pupils will pitch the idea for their project to a group of scientists.

As part of their entry the pupils have shared their findings with several groups including the other pupils in their school, their parents, the teachers and local representatives in their area including Bríd Smith (People Before Profit – Solidarity) and Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Sinn Féin).

“The biggest thing from a teaching point of view is that children get to see Science as something that’s really involved in their personal life, and not just as a subject in school, that they can take their learning outside the classroom,” said Paul.

There are 17 pupils in his class who also made some interesting findings regarding tap water in their school and bottled water.

“The bottled and tap water looked exactly the same but the pH was different.

“The tap water had a good pH of 7 and the bottled water had a higher pH of 9,” said Ridwanah.

“Happily, the waters tested appeared to be able to sustain fish and marine life.

“We also tested the water temperature of the waters to make sure that it was okay for fish and marine life and all temperature was okay,” said Ridwanah.

As part of their project the pupils have made important conclusions.

“Our overall water quality in Ireland is good, compared to some other parts of the world but it could be better.

“We are asking people not to litter, especially near water sources and to keep our waters clean.

“We are also calling on the government to do more to stop factories and agriculture from polluting our water sources,” said Ridwanah.

“Without water there would be no life. It is so important”.