For many years, the scenic waterway has been devoid of recreational activity because of pollution.
Otago Regional Council water quality scientist Rachel Ozanne said intensive monitoring of the lagoon was done between 1998 and 2000, and showed the faecal count in the lagoon was "very high" and "way above" the recommended level for bathing.
The pollution could be attributed to the large quantity of bird life, farming in the area or flushbacks from the old Tahuna sewage outfall pipe, she said.
However, now that the new Tahuna outfall pipe has been commissioned, about 20 pupils from Tahuna Intermediate have begun testing the water in the lagoon to see if it is safe to swim in again.
"We're pollution detectives," teacher Roddy Scoles said.
The pupils teamed up with Otago Region Environmental Monitoring Action Project (EMAP) co-ordinator Andrew Innes and were using water testing equipment provided by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Pupils took their first water samples from the lagoon yesterday, which would be tested for clarity, pH, electrical conductivity (which measures the amount of minerals in the water), temperature, and the amount of dissolved oxygen, Mr Innes said.
There were also plans to investigate aquatic life in the lagoon in the future.
Mr Scoles said the testing would be ongoing and Mrs Ozanne said she would be interested to see the results.
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