By Chris Barber
Contributing Writer

The Stroud Water Research Center on Spencer Road in London Grove opened its doors to the public last Saturday in celebration of World Water Day.

World Water Day was established in 1993 by the United Nations in observance of focusing on the importance of water and advocating for the sustainable management of water resources.

The formal recognition of the day is March 22, but Stroud Water Research Center decided that Saturday as a related day in the season was more convenient to its clientele, director of communications Jennifer Merrill said.

Scores of families showed up to learn how this internationally acclaimed institution for the study and advocacy of improved water quality carries out its mission.

The half-day event offered plenty for the visitors to do and see, including touring the site and engaging in some of the center’s scientific activities.

True to its water name, Stroud Center sits conveniently on the White Clay Creek basin in London Grove along Spencer Road.

Stroud Water Research Center officially opened in 1967, and was founded by scientists Ruth Patrick and W. Dixon Stroud, Sr. and evolved from there. Patrick and Stroud were both scientists with strong backgrounds in and advocacy for water studies through the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Merrill explained that Patrick was seeking a site for studies and found it with the help of Stroud, who had the “perfect” farm-on-a-stream property.

Those who came to the event on Saturday were invited to roam the buildings and the land, but they also received hands-on activities to further understand Stroud Center’s mission.

Inside they saw and heard about study rooms with devices, microscopes, aquariums, and record-keeping centers.

Outside, visitors meandered the mature forest that  more than a half century ago lay open as the Stroud farm pasture.

Several features that attracted the attention of the guests were “electro fishing,” casting with fishing rods and eels – lots of eels and their stories. Electro fishing, as described by staff member and demonstrator Lauren Zgleszewski, involves injecting a brief shot of electric power into the stream, which stuns all the life there (bugs and fish) still for a short time.

This way the scientist can scoop them up in an orderly manner without having them scatter or arrive uncounted. This station attracted a large crowd.

At the fishing rod angling station, kids were given rods baited with hooks, and a veteran fisherman helped them develop the skill of casting for model fish that were laid out on the ground in front of them.

They learned this difficult skill rapidly. 

Aquariums were scattered here and there all over Stroud. Many of them contained bugs, little fish and eels, all swimming around together.

Visitors learned that eels reproduce in the salty ocean but then swim inland to fresh water to spend their lives there. This classifies them as one of the few species that can live in salt and fresh water. That is why, even in landlocked Chester County, people occasionally catch eels in their local ponds.

The Stroud Water Research Center came to be because Patrick and Stroud thought this land, with a barn along the White Clay, would be the perfect place for her scientific investigation, Merrill said. That land evolved into the center, and in time it has grown and earned worldwide renown.

Its workings are varied. The center work with locals on issues like farmers polluting their water or municipal work crews putting too much salt on icy roads. They not only give governments, farmers and organizations results of tests, but they help them design solutions for purer water.

The staff has increased to more than 50 over the years.

Their scientists are highly skilled and hold sophisticated doctorates. Overall, a spirit of enthusiasm and concern for water quality permeates Stroud.

Stroud also works with schools and offers tours, has newsletters, and presents special events throughout the year.