miniSASS is used to monitor the health of a river and measure the general quality of the water in that river. It uses the make-up of macro-invertebrates (small animals) living in rivers and is based on the sensitivity of the various animals to water quality.

Anyone can learn how to collect a miniSASS sample on a river. Once you have collected a sample you look for the different bug groups and score whether they were found. The score then tells you the health class of the river, ranging across five categories from natural to very poor.

Get your community, school or family and friends involved in monitoring a selection of your streams and rivers. In this way a map of river health across Southern Africa will develop. Communities can use the information and knowledge to illustrate the plight of their rivers, connect with other miniSASS samplers and investigate pollution sources.

NOTE: miniSASS does NOT measure the contamination of the water by bacteria and viruses and thus does not tell us if the river water is fit to drink. The current version works online and therefore users should be connected while using the app.