HUNDREDS of volunteers will spend four days testing water pollution across Oxfordshire.

The eighth Thames WaterBlitz starts tomorrow, where non-scientists will test for phosphates and nitrates in ponds, lakes, ditches, springs, streams and rivers.

They will use simple water-testing kits, provided free-of-charge, to identify key pollution sources or clean water areas that act as refuges for wildlife.

It is organised by Citizen Science and coincides with tests carried out on the non-tidal River Thames by scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH).

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Sharing the data with the Environment Agency, CEH and Catchment Partnerships helps to fill gaps in organisations' knowledge about the environment.

Sign up ate wgis.org/waterblitz-registration/