Local campaigners have launched a crowdfunding initiative to protect the River Kent from water pollution - the Clean River Kent Campaign has 4 weeks to raise £1,500 to support a volunteer-led citizen science testing programme through to October 2022.
The evidence collected will be used by the group to campaign to make the River Kent in Cumbria clean for water-based recreation and to protect wildlife.
The total cost of the campaign is £8,200. This includes the cost of the testing and transporting them to the laboratory, room hire, events, the volunteer programme, marketing and printing. The group has already raised funding of £6,862 from successful applications to 2 local parish councils (Burneside and Staveley with Ings), Kendal Town Council, the Lake District Foundation, the Burneside Energy Company, and the Lakes Distillery.
The money donated by the Crowdfunding campaign will make up the rest of the funds they need to run the campaign.
Carole Wood, Kendal resident and Chair of South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) said:
“ Cleaning up our rivers is vital part of securing a sustainable environment for the future.”
“Over 40 local volunteers are already involved in the citizen science project undertaking research along the River Kent. This is a fantastic community effort but we will need further funding to keep the programme going until October.”
Water samples are being collected from 6 sites in Staveley, Beckmickle Ing Wood, Burneside, Kendal (Sandy Bottoms), Hawes Bridge and Sedgwick, and then tested for e.coli and enterococcus (two sewage-related bacteria) in an accredited laboratory.
In October 2022, with the information gathered, the Clean River Kent Campaign will apply to DEFRA for Bathing Water Designation Status at a site in Staveley. If successful it would be the third river in the whole country to obtain this status – the campaigners are working closely with the Ilkley Clean River Campaign which successfully obtained Bathing Water status for the River Wharfe in 2020.
To support the application the Clean River Kent Campaign is also running a survey and other consultation activities during the summer.
Click here to watch a 3 minute video as part of the Crowdfunder to explain the project in more detail
Click here for more information about the summer citizen science project and a link to the River Kent survey
Click here for more general information on the overall campaign:
“SAS (Surplus Activated Sludge) is a bit weird and 
Owen Mace has taken over as Director of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) Plastic Pipes Group on the retirement of Caroline Ayres. He was previously Standards and Technical Manager for the group.
PureTec Separations, the Ledbury-based water treatment engineering firm, has appointed Dan Norman as its new Sales Manager – Water Process Systems, supporting the company’s continued growth in the UK and international markets.
bNovate has launched BactoCloud, a secure cloud-based platform that connects and manages its BactoSense instruments, enabling real-time monitoring and optimization of microbial water quality.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.