The humble household ladle has become a scientific tool for Primley Women’s Institute as they take part in a global water quality research project.

Three of the WI members have formed a River Watch team and become ‘citizen scientists’, monitoring the River Sid for potential signs of pollution. The ladle is used for scooping water out of the river.

Julie Andrews, coordinator of the group, said: “Devon WI is encouraging local WI groups to join a global research programme monitoring fresh water quality around the world. Freshwater Watch has been developed by Earth Watch. In our little corner of the world in Sidmouth, after risk assessments and researching suitable safe access points of the River Sid, we became ‘citizen scientists’ in monitoring the water quality in our river.

“Our first outing was on a wet and chilly day in winter and we measured and tested for nitrates and potassium and tested the turbidity of the water. The results are sent in to the central Devon WI co-ordinator who collates all the WI results for authorities at Freshwater Watch to analyse.”

Lesley Fletcher, the second member of the group, said: “We know that other WI groups are testing and people like the Sidmouth Biodiversity group, so hopefully the River Sid is well covered. We only test one spot and as values are expected to vary throughout the year we test seasonally. Our datasets for winter and spring have shown so far this waterbody has a very good ecological status.”

And the ladle? Janet Dowling, the final member of the group, puts her hand up. “The WI is nothing if not creative in its devices, using fishing rod poles, milk bottles and the like, but I thought it would be safer to bend over and use the ladle to get the water sample than be kneeling on the river bank and risk slipping, given some challenges we all have. It seems to work well. We get the samples and no one has fallen in yet! So now the ladle is an essential part of the kit.“

Julie added: “We do get some bemused looks, especially as we are often hooting with laughter as we negotiate our task and footings. People stop and ask us what we are doing! But that’s the time we can explain and raise the profile of why river testing is so important and demonstrate that the WI in the 21st century is not all about ‘Jam and Jerusalem’."

For more info on river watching see www.freshwaterwatch.org