River monitoring latest
With 10 surveyors, 15 different survey locations and a total of 24 surveys completed to date, our Freshwater Watch Group is feeling well established now. Overall, the results remain pleasing and it has been fabulous to see kingfishers at different points on the river and to hear tell of otters. The following map shows our survey sites so far:
Green – very good ecological status; orange - moderate ecological status; red - poor ecological status
The Rivers Trust maintain a website colloquially known as the Sewage Map, which shows the locations of waste water treatment works and septic tanks. Where the water companies have Event Duration Monitors in place the map also gives the number of days that untreated sewage has been released from each of their facilities for a given year. Currently that just covers 2021 and 2020. The bigger the black dot, the bigger the ‘spill’.
Our area on the Rivers Trust Sewage Map
I have been asked why they do not give the volume of these untreated sewage discharges and I assume that there is no information on volumes because many of them will be following heavy rains and the volume could be great but the sewage well diluted by the rain. Spills that do not follow heavy rain could have a smaller volume but be much less diluted before entering the river. So volumes would not tell you much.
All the above are upstream of where I live in Dumpford, Trotton. Forgive me for a moment of NIMBYism but by the time the river flows by the end of my lane untreated sewage, including microplastics (from our laundry of clothes made of synthetic fibres, our plastic pan scourers etc.), could have been discharged into the river from any of the above sources. Some of the sites in the above table discharge into tributaries of the Rother.
I believe the situation in South Harting is now much improved. Clearly the South Harting figures contribute significantly to the totals above. (The tributary that carries discharges from South Harting joins the Rother just before Trotton.)
Many of these hours of discharge will have been happening concurrently, following rain storms, but simply to help us get a feel for those totals . . . 365 x 24 = 8760, there are 8760 hours in a year.
And that is all on top of any agricultural run-off, road run-off, poorly managed private septic tanks etc.
ERA’s Freshwater Watch Group has already reported one incident to the Environment Agency and will continue to monitor the river and take what steps we can to protect it.
In the meantime, I think we need a round of applause for the River Rother for keeping itself so healthy in spite of mankind’s best efforts to the contrary.