Please be aware that the March for Clean Water which was originally going to be on Saturday 26th October has been rearranged to Sunday 3rd November.
Please let us know if you plan to attend as soon as possible so we can arrange to link up on Albert Embankment by 11am.
Sewage Campaign Network
Save Our Swale have joined this campaign group. Who are they? In their own words:
“We are grassroots campaigners deeply rooted in our local communities, working to save our rivers, lakes, and seas from sewage pollution. As the founders of the current massive public storm, our coalition consists of the forerunners in the fight against sewage pollution—passionate community members dedicated to safeguarding rivers, lakes, and coastlines.
We have not been captured – we don’t take money from government, regulators or the water companies; we are truly independent. We take pride in our integrity.
To save our local waters, we’ve had to step up to challenge the entire water system, campaigning to get the law enforced. We are also mobilising hundreds of community campaign groups like ours, providing briefings and educational sessions, and supporting the practicalities of water testing, campaigning and lobbying.
Each group within the network operates independently, but we speak as one, channelling the public's outrage at pollution for profit.”
A year of Water Quality Monitoring
For the last year (September 2023 – September 2024) average coliform counts in the River Swale continued to be well above the Bathing Water Status level of 1000 counts per 100 ml.
66% percent of samples taken exceeded this level. In samples taken in the urban locations of Richmond and Brompton, 73% failed this test.
At Station Bridge, the average coliform count was 12 times what it should be. These are dangerously high levels.
Water Quality Monitoring continues on a monthly basis. Thank you, volunteers. On request further analysis has been conducted in Gilling West and Colburn Beck. Both sites recorded high levels of coliform contamination. For example in September at Gilling Beck by the Bridge, the coliform count was 65 times what it should have been. The Environment Agency have been involved and we await their response.
River Monitoring for Invertebrates
SOS arose out of public concern about sewage being discharged into the Swale, and to hold Yorkshire Water to account, as the body responsible. In spring 2024 it was proposed to the SOS committee that a group be created to look at river invertebrates to support SOS’s chemical sampling of Swale water.
Sampling equipment was bought, with support from private donors, the Quakers and Brompton-on-Swale Parish Council. This, and affiliation with the RiverFly Partnership (a network of organisations encouraging citizen scientists to monitor invertebrate life in their rivers), convinced the Environment Agency to approve the group to sample five sites from Brompton-on-Swale to Round Howe.
RiverFly uses eight species of larvae as indicators for clean inland water bodies. Like lichen, these larvae are sensitive to pollution. Data are collected by groups like SOS from around Britain. The data, following standard collecting protocol, go into a national database, Cartographer. In the Swale, testing began at the end of July, and conscientiously followed the RiverFly sampling protocol; this involved standing in the river and vigorously kicking for three minutes! The intended effect was to dislodge the minuscule larvae from their rocky hiding places and into the collecting nets. The low numbers of larvae found seemed to confirm the pollution levels found in the SOS’s chemical sampling.
However, and this is a big however, two knowledgeable anglers in the group suggested that vigorous kicking actually risked killing the delicate larvae! Gentler kicking was tried, and the larval catch increased exponentially.
From Spring 2025 the SOS invertebrate group will once again be supporting SOS in holding Yorkshire Water to account through collecting larval data from our five sites, though this time we will be kick sampling more gently as we seek to understand the nature of the Swale and its lifeforms and the impact pollution has on it.
How can you know when sewage has been dumped in the River Swale?
You can check when the Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) have been opened to dump raw sewage by going to this Yorkshire Water Storm Overflow Map and searching results for Richmond North Yorkshire.
Why is this important?
Volunteers doing Invertebrate monitoring reported a repulsive experience when monitoring for invertebrates last month.
The river was fast flowing, medium high and foul smelling. The stench was very, very unpleasant. When they went on the website which shows when the storm overflows are open to dump sewage directly into the river, it was found that the CSO at Riverside Road was opened on the 8th September for 1 hour 13 minutes. We don't know what volume of sewage was dumped on that day. The CSOs on the Batts, Lombards Wynd and the Rugby field dumped on the 9th of September for varying amounts of time with no record of the volume of sewage dumped at each site. We were sampling on the 10th September! Analysis of the water sample from that day indicated E. coli counts of 9,750 cells per 100ml, which is nearly 10 times higher than it should be.
There had been heavy rainfall 48 hours before. That is why it is really important to wait over 48 hours from any rainfall before entering the river. For example, after the recent rainfall on 16th October, raw sewage dumping into the Swale has occurred at Reeth Road, Riverside Road, Lombards Wynd, The Richmond Baths and Rugby Field CSO sites for anything from 1 minute duration to 2.5 hours. The CSO at the Batts is not registering when raw sewage is being dumped. That does not mean it is not being dumped, just that we are not able to know when or for how long. Yorkshire Water are looking into it! You can see all this reported by clicking the red button below:
Spreading the Word
Save Our Swale took part in the Rivers Trust Open Day in October held at Gilling West Hall. It was great to meet members of the public and other groups all working to improve our rivers and make them healthy for wildlife and recreation.
Dates for the diary
March for Clean Water, London, now 3rd November: for more info, see the top of the newsletter.
Water Quality Monitoring: the next dates are 27th October & 24th November.
