Samples of water were collected by surfers at Warriewood and Turimetta Beaches (north and south of the Warriewood outfall) in North Sydney, on three occasions in the surf zone by members of Surfrider as part of citizen science research conducted for the National Outfall Database.

The intention of the pilot survey was to determine if variations in water quality caused by a known outfall could be scientifically detected by recreational water users/citizen scientists.

Beaches either side of the Warriewood outfall, North Sydney, were selected for monitoring due to:

• Existing concerns acknowledged by two stakeholders Sydney Water and Surfrider
• An existing notification system for by-pass events making potential changes in water quality to easier to detect.

Warriewood beach having no other major source of local runoff contributing to contamination (ie. stormwater outfalls, creeks etc.)