ACT FOR CLEAN RIVERS
WHAT?
Citizen scientists are trained to test local river water quality for nitrates, phosphates and turbidity (how clear or murky the water is), once a month. It’s fun but if you don't feel quite up to this there are lots of things you can do at home to help improve our river water quality - see below.
WHY?
As we all know, our rivers are in a bad state nationwide, brown in colour and with algae starving the water of oxygen and killing off all aquatic life. Illegal spills from sewage treatment works, agricultural run-off, road run-off and household products all contribute to this. Wild swimming is now considered inadvisable and even letting your dog swim in the river is unwise.
HOW?
The Citizen Scientist training is very straightforward, and you’ll be supplied with a simple testing kit to test the river water at a designated spot near where you live, once a month. Your data is uploaded on an App and gets fed back to the Evenlode Catchment Partnership/Fresh Water Watch where it is all analysed. This information is used to monitor the health of the river and highlight any problem areas. There’s lots of support and it’s a great thing to do with the family.
WHERE & WHEN?
The lovely people at Fresh Water Watch will agree a testing site with you which is convenient to where you live. This could be on the Evenlode or one of its tributaries.
Testing takes place once a month on a designated weekend so that all the data sent in can be analysed together. You’ll be reminded when this is but don’t worry if you’re away or can’t do it for any reason. As long as you can do it some of the time, it all helps. And we've got a local Wychwoods group of Citizen Scientists if you need any support.
WaterBlitz • If you feel you can’t commit to once a month there’s a WaterBlitz over the weekend of 25th - 28th April weekend which you can sign up for. Click here for more details.
What can you do at home to help?
Did you know that sewage traetment works only remove the solids in our waste (ie the poo)? They can’t remove anything dissolved in liquid which includes the chemicals in our household cleaning products, micro plastics and even pharmaceutical residues that pass through us, all of which can be extremely damaging to our waterways.
Here are our top ten tips for helping the health of the river at home:
1. ALWAYS remember the 3 P’s - pee, poo and paper ONLY down the loo please!
2. NEVER EVER flush wet wipes down the loo (whatever the packaging says!) and ideally stop using them altogether. They are the biggest contributor to sewer blockages. There are lots of natural, eco-friendly alternatives around - just google it!
3. Check the label on your washing up liquid bottle - if it says ‘Harmful to aquatic life with long-lasting effects’, just ditch it! There are lots of alternatives now which are kinder to the environment and equally effective eg Ecover or Method.
4. Change your household cleaning products to a natural brand to prevent harmful chemicals entering the waterways, or just use white vinegar and baking soda.
5. Buy a Guppyfriend (google it!). Put your fleeces and synthetics in this washing bag when doing the laundry and stop micro plastic pollution from entering our rivers - and ultimately our drinking water.
6. Change your toiletries to a natural brand such as Faith in Nature, to reduce the chemicals passing directly into our rivers.
7. If you have a dog or cat, think about its flea and tick treatment - is it really necessary every month? The chemicals it contains are absolutely lethal to bees and aquatic life, and enter the waterways not only through dogs swimming in the river but also through washing pet bedding and even washing our hands after stroking them.
8. Never install astroturf, it creates a lot of micro plastics as it breaks down which enter the water system.
9. Stop using pesticides, herbicides and lawn fertilisers which ultimately enter the water system. Leaving short clippings on the lawn is the best natural fertiliser and much cheaper. A monoculture of grass is a desert as far as wildlife is concerned so enjoy the variety of plants that will grow and give nature a helping hand in your own garden.
10. Write to our MP expressing your concerns about the state of our river and really push him to to take action: Charlie Maynard MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA or email charlie.maynard.mp@parliament.uk
Even if you start with just one thing, collectively we can make a difference!
TOP OF THE POOPS!
Milton Sewage Treatment Works once again wins the Gold Award for sewage discharge into the Evenlode in 2024...
Our very own Milton STW discharged untreated sewage into Littlestock Brook for 2664 hours and 15 minutes last year - the equivalent of 111 days which is almost a third of the year! The brook flows through Shipton near the Surgery and into the river Evenlode which then flows into the Thames at Cassington.
Milton sewage treatment works is sited right on the border between Milton under Wychwood and Shipton under Wychwood. It treats (or sometimes doesn’t) waste water from Milton and Shipton as well as Ascott, Lyneham, Idbury and other hamlets. Built originally for a capacity of 2000 people it now has to deal with well over 4000 people! During the increasing periods of heavy rain, this lack of capacity means untreated sewage can get dumped directly into Littlestock Brook. Because of the current financial situation facing Thames Water, the planned upgrade (scheduled for completion this year!) probably won’t happen for several years to come....
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