• We plan to have bottle available all day on Friday before the sampling day. The locations will be at Boyd Hall, Ross Township Fire Station, Butler County Engineer's Office, Barn N' Buck Market in Trenton, Oxford Farmer's Market, and Talawanda Farmer's Market.

• At each location, there will be a cooler with empty sample bottles and instructions on taking samples.

• Take the number of bottles you think you will need. If you don't use the bottles one month, keep them for the next month.

• The lab testing is most effective is the samples are taken between 8 and 10:00am Saturday morning. In any event, note the time of collection on the bottle along with any other information.

• Pick a site that is convenient for you to collect. If it duplicates another person's site, we will be happy to have the duplicate. We desire to have a broad distribution of sample sites, and the fullest participation of the community. If you are able and willing, we know of site that need collectors, and we would be delighted to have you sample one of them.

• Safety. Make sure you keep yourself safe. Many streams have steep banks, some have deep areas. Be sure to be safe.

• Sample the fastest flowing part of the stream. This may not be possible from the stream banks; do the best you can. We have designed a sampling basket that can be lowered from a bridge to get the central, fast-flowing portion of the stream. Ask us if you want to use one. The training is very, very easy.

• Rinse the bottle with the water you collect. Get some water in the bottle, shake the bottle, and be sure to rinse the top. Then collect as ful a sample in the bottle as possible.

• Each bottle has a label on the outside for you to complete. Use pencil, pen, or sharpie, but not something that will easily wash off. We generally write on the bottle BEFORE taking the sample because a wet bottle can be difficult to write on. Complete as much of the label as possible.

• The drop-off sites are the same as the bottle pick-up sites. At each site, the cooler will be picked up at 10:30am on Saturday to bring the samples back to the lab. If you wish, you can pick up clean bottles for next month's sampling at the same time you drop off the filled sample bottles.
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• Where: Boyd Hall, Miami University

• When: Analysis begins at 11:30am

• What: There are many procedures to do and measurements to be made. We will train you.

Contact: Mark Boardman (513-529-5811) or Maria Tomashot.

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