Update on Day 5‘s -‘Citizen Science’ Great UK WaterBlitz

On Day 5, Brockenhurst WI members took part in the Great UK WaterBlitz event. This campaign calls on everyone to go out and test the quality of their local freshwater including rivers, streams and lakes.

We mentioned in the post that we hoped that we are carrying out the testing correctly as our results seemed to be showing that our waterways are in good ecological condition. We said that we would add an update and here it is!

After a weekend of rain, heavy at times, we repeated the tests in the same locations.

At Ivy Wood, which is downstream from the Water Treatment Works, todays test showed higher nitrate levels than on Friday.

Southern Water’s ‘Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan’ states that “The two main nutrients of concern are nitrate and phosphate– both are contained in domestic and industrial sewage.”

Did the extra nitrate in the water today come from sewage? Had there been a sewer storm overflow?

In the Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP) Overview of the New ForestRiver Basin CatchmentOctober 2022 Version 2 document on Southern Water’s website it states that:

“Under heavy storm conditions, rainfall can enter the sewerage systems and significantly increase the flow in the system. The flow of water arriving at the WTW can exceed the recycling capacity of the works, so any excess water is temporarily stored in large storm tanks. If these tanks ever fill to capacity, then they would discharge water into the rivers or sea through storm overflows. Our aim is to prevent any discharge of water that has not been fully recycled to the required standards. Any water released from storm tanks is screened to remove items such as wet wipes and solids. These discharges are permitted by our regulator and monitored carefully. This control mechanisms required to prevent the backing up of water within the sewers and putting homes at risk of flooding.“

Local Waste Water Treatment Works (including Brockenhurst) are to be enhanced to get more nitrates out of the waste water, so hopefully this will help the situation.

We have signed up to do future WaterBlitz testing so we can monitor the situation. Watch this space for future updates!

We are fortunate to live in a Special Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), and a Ramsar site as a Wetland of International. We will continue to do all we can to protect our rivers in this special area that we live in!