Bid to take the blue out of Blue Lagoon
BUT DETOX PLAN WOULDN’T MAKE IT ANY SAFER SAYS COUNCILLOR
DERBYSHIRE’S notorious Blue Lagoon could be less blue – and clear of toxins – if plans by the boss of a new water purification company are given the green light.
But the idea has been heavily criticised, with locals saying the deep, freezing cold pool near Buxton would still pose too much of a danger.
If David McDonald were to get the go-ahead, Hoffman Quarry, in Harpur Hill, would become the country’s first body of water to be decontaminated using a cutting-edge filtration system, making it safer for animals and humans, as well as doing away with the water’s bright blue hue.
Despite the challenges in setting up an electrically powered filtration system in an isolated quarry, and the £20,000 cost, Mr McDonald is confident the pool would be an ideal place to showcase the technology.
He claims he has even had an enthusiastic response from a senior member of staff at Derbyshire County Council.
However High Peak Borough Councillor Linda Grooby, who has been closely involved with the Blue Lagoon controversy from the start, said there was unlikely to be any local appetite for it.
She said: “I don’t think this is an option. The only option there would be to use a filtration system would be if we were to drain it, because if we did drain it then we could use it to take the toxins out so the water would be safe and could be diverted elsewhere. But in regards to using it in the quarry at the moment, I would say it’s a no.
“We wouldn’t want to encourage people to come to the quarry. We do dye the water to make it black, to make it look unwelcoming for people to swim in it. Because even if you took the toxins out of it, it isn’t safe.
“It’s very deep, it’s very cold, and it will still have dead animals and rotting cars in it. It really isn’t a good place to swim anyway, so there’s no way we’d ever want people to swim in it. So no way, it’s not an option really.”
Councillor Grooby explained that the landowner has hinted he wants to use the fenced-off land to build industrial units, but problems have arisen over access to the site.
Mr McDonald says his Zeoconcept filtration system, which has been developed in Sweden, has been used effectively in similar toxic pools and he is hoping to work with local authorities to pursue the idea.
He said: “We would be able to make what is currently a health hazard perfectly safe. We’ve spoken to the county council and they’re concerned about the safety aspect, and the environmental benefits.
“It would mean you haven’t got a hazard any more, which is better for the wildlife and the community.
“It could be used as a water supply, it could be used as a fire lake or whatever.”
Mr McDonald added the by-product of the filtration system, Zeolite, can be used as an organic fertiliser, which growers say has helped them use less water and encouraged better growth of plants.
He says 70% of the lakes in the UK are “poisoned” and there are five lime quarry pools in Derbyshire, which are his main areas of focus.
The quarry hit the headlines last summer after a scramble by daytrippers led to chaotic scenes in the village of Harpur Hill, which has no parking area for the quarry and no public toilets.
Villagers reported hordes of people turning up, carrying barbecues and speakers, and even using gardens and the church yard as toilets.
Eventually local farmers took matters into their own hands and spread foul-smelling slurry across the quarry.