Residents collect air pollution data for a UC San Diego study.

As lawmakers work to find a solution to Imperial Beach’s wastewater problem, residents there are doing everything they can to gather critical data on the impact of wastewater.

“It’s everywhere, I hate to say it, but you can feel it and I think it’s constantly contributing to our headaches and sore throats,” says Bobbi Otero.

Like many others in the South Bay, the smell of sewage has become part of her everyday life. While she hopes a solution to fix the problem will be found at the government level, she is doing what she can as a resident to help identify the impact sewage is having on neighborhoods.

She agreed to participate in a study organized by the University of California, San Diego.

Otero says, “I’m excited about the arrival of the UCSD air testing team and I’m really looking forward to seeing what numbers they’ll get inside our home.”

The University of California, San Diego, says they are monitoring air quality in neighborhoods near the Tijuana River Valley, installing monitors around the city and inside homes.

This equipment collects a variety of data, including the types of particles and gases present in the air.

There is also a mobile van equipped with instruments to take samples and directly measure the air.

More than 300 people have already signed up to wear a monitor at home.

Otero says she is looking forward to receiving the equipment at her home, but is also concerned about what it will reveal.

She says: “I’m nervous about what I’m breathing. I don’t know if it can be worse than what we’re breathing. So maybe I need to move and sell my house.”

The monitor will remain at Otero’s home for 3 to 5 days.