NORTHWEST BOISE, Idaho — The Boise River is considered the heart of the city for many folks — floating, fishing and the gorgeous scenery on the greenbelt all rely on the waterway.

That’s why the City of Boise closely monitors the river’s water quality and the treated wastewater returned to the river from its water renewal facilities.

“The biggest question we get from people who are pedestrians and bicyclists is what are you trying to catch?,” said Bryan Dufosse, Senior Environmental Specialist with the City of Boise.

He and his team are often seen on the bridges over the Boise River with a unique crane looking contraption that they use to collect a series of water samples across the river.

WATCH | See how the city’s enviromental team tests the water quality of the Boise River

How the City of Boise tests water samples to ensure the Boise River runs clean

The city collects samples from locations upstream and downstream from Boise’s water renewal plants to ensure their treatment systems are working properly.

“We’re from the beginning of the pipe to the end of the pipe, making sure that we’re not putting anything into the river that takes away from the river’s water quality,” Dufosse said.

He says the majority of the time their samples come back nice and clean.

“We don’t see heavy pollutants fortunately here. Normally the Boise river is pretty clean, it’s pretty clean because the city citizens and the City Of Boise care about the River,” Dufosse said.

The city still conducts extensive testing to monitor for pollutants and other contaminants like heavy metals or nutrients. Samples collected from the river are brought to a portable water testing lab they built inside a camper before they’re taken to the city’s full size lab.

“Now we are splitting the samples so we can take them back to the water quality lab and then Alex and the rest of the team will test them for heavy metals and pH and all that kind of stuff,” said Corrine Smith, Water Quality Environmental Technician with the City of Boise.

If unusually high levels of metals or pollutants are detected, the city reports the findings to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and works to identify the source.

The city’s water quality team tests the Boise River 52 weeks a year to ensure the water remains clean and healthy.

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