The Blue Water Task Force is Surfrider’s volunteer water quality monitoring program that provides critical water quality information to protect public health at the beach. Surfrider chapters use this program to raise awareness of local pollution problems and to bring together communities to implement solutions.
Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) labs measure fecal indicator bacteria levels in recreational waters and compare them to water quality standards set to protect public health. Chapter-run BWTF programs fill in the gaps and extend the coverage of agency-run beach monitoring programs by sampling ocean and bay beaches, estuaries and potential freshwater sources of pollution such as stormwater outlets, rivers and creeks that discharge onto the beach.
View Your Florida Keys Local Water Quality
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Water quality testing provided by Surfrider's {{info.name}} Chapter
We are excited to house our BWTF Lab at Keys Marine Laboratory in Layton. Surfrider volunteers are able to get involved in water quality testing in the Upper Keys and Middle Keys.
Pictured: Surfrider Volunteer, Kyle Phillips
Our Local Program
The Florida Keys Chapter partners with Keys Marine Lab to operate the BWTF program. The Keys Marine Laboratory is a full-service marine field station situated in the heart of the Florida Keys island chain at mile marker 68.5. The facility offers a unique opportunity for college level education and researchers studying the only tropical marine ecosystems in the continental United States. Currently, our Surfrider Chapter samples and processes the Islamorada sites at KML once a month.
