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Water Quality in the Park

Pam Atkinson received a call from the Environment Agency some time in 2004 to let her know that they were starting a campaign to clean up the water in the brook. We hadn't realised that they quality was that poor, but apparently it had been falling.

Mary Tyler from the Agency told Pam that they had already tested the water and would do so again after the campaign. The pollution was mixed, coming from road drainage, farms, sewage from septic tanks, industry and cross connections. She had written letters to farmer, industrial users and businesses to let them know that the Environment Agency was tightening up procedures.

The drainage system for many of the houses beside the Park is divided into two: foul sewage is piped to the treatment works, whilst water from roofs and gutters is sent straight to the brook. The problem is that these systems have not always been connected properly. One common mistake happens when new equipment such as washing machines and dishwashers are installed. It is very easy to connect the waste pipe to the rain water drainage, so that we end up with soapy water flowing into the brook, which is very bad for the wildlife. Welsh Water has powers to visit homes to check for this - we certainly have seen soapy water coming into the brook from time to time.

We have suffered from a few pollution incidents but this campaign should improve the general quality of the water.

Update mid-2005

Mary has visited the farms upstream from the park and has tested their "run-off". She came across a few issues but generally found their practices very good - some of the best she has come across. So the nitrates in the water are not so bad. In fact, the general quality has improved as far as the oxygen and ammonia in the water are concerned. Our real problem is with the high level of phosphates wich come from soaps, washing powder, etc. These will probably be in the surface water that drains into the brook from all the surrounding houses.

We are waiting for Welsh Water to start their detective work looking in particular for cross connections in the plumbing and drainage systems.

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