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Water Quality Specialist Taylor Register was in Washington this week, sampling for heavy metals in an urban creek.

As part of a grant application Sound Rivers is writing with the City of Washington, Taylor was tasked with gathering a sediment sample from the bottom of Jack’s Creek, which proved to be a bit precarious.

“The sampling device is called a ponar grab sampler, and, essentially, it’s this large box that you drop down into the water, and when it hits the bottom it closes and captures sediment from the bottom of the creek,” Taylor said. “It’s easier said than done, though — the equipment is really heavy, and it was a bit of a challenge to pull up while dangling from the side of a bridge, so it took a couple of tries to get a good sample.”

Taylor got a crash course in the sampling equipment from Dr. Stephen Moysey, director of East Carolina University’s Water Resources Center, and Dr. Bobby Bowser, the Water Resources Lab’s lab and field manager.

The goal is to determine the amount of heavy metals in the sediment in Jack’s Creek. Taylor dropped off her sample ECU, where it will be dried out and analyzed for the presence and concentration of heavy metals.

“The reason we’re doing this kind of testing in the first place is because heavy metals can be toxic to aquatic life and bioaccumulate up the food chain, so it’s a pretty important water-quality parameter to keep an eye on when determining the health of a creek,” she said. “This type of sample processing isn’t really in our wheelhouse, and I’ve personally never sampled for creek bed sediments before, so it was a bit of a learning experience for me, and I had a lot of fun doing it!”