Wildlife Circus

Nitrates 10 and Phosphates 0.5 The second Water Blitz of the year - coordinated by EarthWatch - was undertaken during 2.10.17, at locations along the Hogsmill river similar  to those of the May Blitz. Starting with Knights Park TQ18536872, the nitrate level was high - scoring 10 in the sample tubes from the kits that are issued to us. All sites went on to score 10 for nitrates unless otherwise stated. Hogsmill SW outfall   Just below the outfall at the Hogsmill Sewage Works TQ19156857, phosphate levels were the lowest of the survey at 0.1. Is this the result of phosphate stripping? The highest phosphate level was achieved at the Channel of Cess (CoC), the small stream entering the Hogsmill at TQ19866831. Sewage fungus   In addition to the highest (therefore the worst of the chemical readings) there was a strong odour, milky colouration, sewage fungus and fresh rag lined the channel. This type of chronic pollution can be  reported to the Environment Agenc...

As a recap, there was a large spill of sewage onto Green Lane Recreation Ground and the Hogsmill river 8.2.16, when 2,500 bags of waste were removed (posted 21.2.16). Since then it has continued to be bad news for the Hogsmill river, with sewage entering the river every month (see: sewage spill into the Hogsmill River 19.4.16; spates and sewage 23.6.16). Much of this has been via the 'channel of cess' on the north-east bank near California Road as well as other surcharging manholes. But a large release of sewage occured last Thursday, in the early hours of the morning from the final settlement tanks. Something of a puzzle is that an amount of rag was also noted, which should not be associated with the final stage of sewage treatment.  As usual this has largly gone  uncommented upon. This silence is not commensurate with the large amount of sewage that has entered the water course.  On the tiday Thames there are regular announcements for rowers when there is a spi...

According to Blogger statistics, one of the most-read posts of 2016 to date has been The Hogsmill Sewage Spill (8.2.16). It therefore seems appropriate to provide an update here, rather than respond individually to the many enquiries received. This also serves as a useful way of maintaining a chronological record of events, while keeping ward councillors informed, particularly as they are already dealing with other sewage-related issues, such as persistent odour problems.   The previous post detailed the amount of 'rag' that appears downstream of the outfall on an almost weekly basis. During the flood of 25 June 2016, however, a substantial quantity of this material—including nappy liners, sanitary towels, condoms and their wrappers, cotton buds and, despite assurances that it does not survive passage through the Hogsmill Storm Relief (HSR) outfall, toilet paper—was deposited across the adjacent Public Open Space (POS).   Rag at the outfall So, here's what happened on...