We’ve had some excellent feedback since the CRAG launch on the 12th September. Many people have contacted us to learn how they can get involved. We’ve also had some more information from our speakers – the presentation from the speakers, and some useful information and weblinks from Northumbria Water in response to questions that were asked on the night. This information has been included here.
Talks from the speakers
While the technology didn’t work at the CRAG launch event, most of the speakers did have some interesting slides. We include them here so that you can be reminded about what you heard.
Jamie talked about the research and data strategies for CRAG.
Graham Holyoak talked about the Northumberland Wildlife Trust project to reintroduce water vole to the Coquet.
Steve Robson and Laura Mollon talked about what Northumbria Water do and their plans for the future.
And Mark Middleton talked about National Landscape projects that will support nature recovery.
Information from Northumbria water
Laura Mollon from Northumbria Water very kindly sent us some extra information in response to some of the questions she was asked at the CRAG Launch event.
Stormwater overflow improvement planning
Laura writes ‘All of the planned measures (by Northumbria Water) for storm overflow improvements are listed in the DWMP (Drainage and Water Management Programme). There is a postcode finder tool which may help but you should be able to click on the map at (NW DWMP (arcgis.com)) and view the PDFs.’
Parts of the Coquet that are SSSIs
Laura sent some information about those sections of the Coquet that are designated as SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). She writes ‘There are water quality chemical test standards set for each individual SSSI unit for the freshwater Coquet catchment. The standards are described in the CSMG (Common Standards Monitoring Guidance for Rivers). They are tighter than WFD good status. The SSSI units are visible on the DEFRA Magic map – if you select designations, land based, statutory, SSSI units, and then zoom into the coquet area.’ (Note, the CSMG standards for SSSI units have now been incorporated into the ‘Standards that we measure against’ section of the ‘What we’re doing’ page of this website).
Information about drinking water
Laura also included some information about the testing of drinking water, specifically iron levels in drinking water. She writes ‘Broadly speaking, potable water compliance is assured at 3 points in its journey to customers. Sampling is carried out at the works (water treatment works at Warkworth), at all service reservoirs within the distribution system and then at customer taps within their homes. Sampling at customer taps is arranged around water supply zones. Water supply zones can cover houses supplied by an individual water treatment work (WTW) of houses supplied by blended water from a number of WTWs.
During the evening, I was asked about failures of Iron across 8 zones. I have since enquired on this and the data that was mentioned by a lady in the audience was information from all our water supply zones that we cover including areas in Essex and Suffolk, as well as the rest of the North East. In the case of the iron results mentioned, its unlikely to have come from the works, although we do use iron coagulants, nor will it have come from the catchments, much more likely to be localised corrosion from old unlined cast iron pipes. Most iron failures are cured by flushing the affected main, and then continued monitoring. But some are in such poor condition that we replace them alongside prioritising mains for replacement for their burst records. On top of this we liaise with local environmental health teams and the consultants responsible for public health working within the NHS on every health-related failure and then in summary with all the failures at least once a year.’
Bathing water designation
Laura sent some information about applying for bathing water status. She writes ‘Here is the website (designation-dedesignation-process-20120401.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) that contains the requirements for designating a bathing water, please let us know if this is something you are interested in taking forward so we can align any investment needs, and work with you.’
Forever chemicals
Finally, Laura sent some information about ‘forever chemicals’ and heavy metals. She writes ‘:
- polybrominated-diphenyl-ethers-pressure-rbmp-2021.pdf (environment-agency.gov.uk) – Information on PBDE which fails WFD chemical status for all waterbodies in England. The report covers the sources and the impact. From the report you can see that a limited amount of testing was done to designate all river waterbodies. Testing for this substance is done mainly by analysing fish tissue rather than water quality testing. There is an improvement trend in the levels found due to the ban of general use and restriction of specialised uses, this will continue over time.
- mercury-pressure-rbmp-2021.pdf (environment-agency.gov.uk) – Similar to PBDE, mercury is the other substance that fails every waterbody in England. The main sources of mercury are mainly due to air emissions, but this is improving over time.
- Environmental risk evaluation reports: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)‘
CRAG 