The Herald

Sewage safaris to clean up rivers

Concern over discharges into Forth River Basin prompts a new mapping campaign involving local communitie­s, reports

- Martin Williams

IT may sound like a reason for demanding a refund after an unsatisfac­tory trip to see wildlife in Africa.

But conservati­onists are planning sewage safaris following deepening concerns about pollution in the Forth River Basin.

Concerns have already been raised over raw sewage discharges into the River Almond, with more than 500 incidents recorded in 2019, leading to calls for an action plan from Scottish Water to clean up the river.

Forth Rivers Trust is now raising £5,000 to help communitie­s identify and monitor sewage outflows along the River Almond and others in the Forth basin to try to stamp out the problem.

The aim is to create safaris mapping sewage outflows so communitie­s can use the informatio­n to campaign for cleaner, healthier rivers in their area.

More than 1,000 people have now signed a petition to halt the release of raw sewage into the River Almond.

The Outfall Safaris are to be supported by crowdfundi­ng as part of a Clean Rivers, Healthy Rivers campaign for the Forth catchment which includes 13 rivers and is home to roughly 25 per cent of Scotland’s population, together with a wide range of wildlife.

The trust hopes to raise £5,000 for the project, saying the initiative will train communitie­s to understand different types of outfalls, what to look for, and how to record them.

It also plans to set up an online reporting tool to help communitie­s report sewage incidents.

Informatio­n collected by the safaris will then be used to identify the key areas most at risk.

The informatio­n will be used to lobby agencies such as the Scottish Environmen­t Protection Agency (Sepa) and Scottish Water for cleanups but also better protection for the environmen­t.

The area covered runs from Dunbar and Fife Ness in the east to Balquhidde­r in the west, to Kinross in the north and the Pentlands in the south. Alison Baker, director of Forth Rivers Trust, said: “Sewage has

become an increasing problem in the Forth Basin as old systems are not renewed but are still expected to take the waste from an everincrea­sing population around the Central Belt.

“Sewage can smother habitat for aquatic wildlife but also cause issues for the communitie­s that live next to rivers which have sewage in them.

“If this crowdfunde­r is successful we will be able to identify where the hot spots are for sewage – it will mean volunteers and communitie­s can monitor these areas and report sewage spills quicker.”

Concerns over the Almond come as the Forth Rivers Trust makes a “bathing waters” applicatio­n to Sepa for a 400-metre stretch of the river in Almondell and Calderwood

Country Park. But the stretch is upstream of Livingston and subject to sewage discharges from water

treatment plants. According to recent Freedom of Informatio­n requests for four of the seven wastewater treatment works in West Lothian operated by Veolia from 2019, there were 501 discharges across the four sites into the River Almond, amounting to 572,577 cubic litres.

The worst-performing site was the Whitburn sewage treatment works, which overspille­d 177 times during 2019.

It alone discharged 334,976 cubic litres of untreated sewage.

One of the community groups in the Forth Basin keen to get involved in this project is the River Almond

Action Group.

Its chairman Lee Haywood said:

“As a grass-roots organisati­on run by volunteers and concerned residents who share a special connection with the River Almond, we are campaignin­g to stop these unacceptab­le recurrent

sewage discharges into the river. The Outfall Safari is a great initiative to gather evidence of where, when, and how often sewage is being discharged into our rivers.”

A Scottish Water spokeswoma­n said: “Our waste water network and treatment works are operated under strict regulatory policy and regulated licences.

“Scottish Water strives to protect the environmen­t while providing an essential service to our many customers.

“All discharges into water courses must comply with quality standards set in these licences.”

She added: “Combined sewer overflows are an integral part of most of the sewer network in Scotland (and indeed across the UK) ensuring sewers do not back up and flood homes and streets during heavy rainfall.”

Old systems are not renewed but are still expected to take the waste from an everincrea­sing population around the Central Belt

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 ??  ?? The new project will help local communitie­s identify areas where sewage is a problem
The new project will help local communitie­s identify areas where sewage is a problem
 ??  ?? Volunteer Joy Godfrey at an outflow on the Esk
Volunteer Joy Godfrey at an outflow on the Esk
 ??  ?? Sewage outflow at the River Almond
Sewage outflow at the River Almond

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