Scientists monitor storm impact on water quality

Leigh Stringer in edie.net: British scientists will monitor the effect storms have on pollution in river water as climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of stormy weather.  The scientists will look at excess concentrations of phosphate and nitrate in river water, originating from fields, crops and sewers, which are some of the major pollutants affecting Britain's rivers and estuaries.

These nutrient enriched waters can cause severe problems, such as stimulating the growth of excess algae that depletes oxygen from the water, causing widespread death to fish or causing the growth of poisonous algal species (red tides) that can decimate shell fisheries.

Research will be carried out for 12 months measuring nutrient water quality and examining pollution levels when sediments in estuaries are stirred up by storms.

They will also look at how sudden storms affect the input of nutrients and biological activity in the estuaries.

Results of the study will be used to create a statistical model of the distribution of excess phosphates and nitrates, how they transfer from rivers through estuaries and into the coastal seas and the role that storms play in this process.

The team anticipates that this will allow policy makers to make more informed decisions about how to reduce nitrate and phosphate pollution in our estuaries....

A frozen puddle on Twizle Head Moss, shot by John Fielding, Wikimedia Commons via Geograph UK, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license