‘Citizen scientists’ exposing pollution in rivers
GRANDPARENTS and children are among the citizen scientists helping to reveal the devastating effects of river pollution.
Campaigners say they have assisted in discovering that just 14 per cent of England’s rivers are in good ecological state, while not a single one was free from chemical contamination.
Freshwater species, such as salmon, are at risk of suffocation because of high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen from sewage and animal waste.
Charles Watson, founder of River Action UK, said: “Hundreds of ordinary people from all walks of life get into our rivers every day to monitor water quality. It is only through these extraordinary endeavours that we have got to understand the horrific extent of the phosphate pollution of the River Wye.
“Manure from tens of millions of chickens has, in three years, wreaked untold damage on this iconic river.” The Daily Express has highlighted the alarming state of waterways through our Green Britain Needs You campaign.
Nick Day, founder of citizen science group Friends of the
Lower Wye, said the river has been getting worse with extreme algal blooms in summer caused by nitrates and phosphorus.
His group has trained around 20 volunteers to sample and test the water at locations on the Wye, which stretches from the Severn estuary through Wales, as well as its tributaries.
There are now more than 600 volunteers testing at 330 locations. Nick said: “We’ve had interest from the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural ResourcesWales in using our data. All the groups are keen that the information is used in the most valuable way possible for the river.We can offer a huge increase in the amount of data available to them and give them much more detail.
“It’s brought together groups of people who use the river in very different ways – anglers, canoeists, wild swimmers, walkers and artists. They all want to see a healthy river and a clean environment.”
An EA spokesman said: “Monitoring water quality is essential to keeping rivers clean and the Environment Agency has been collecting data from waterways since the 1980s.
“We have spent more than £180million on environmental monitoring since 2016.”