Yorkshire Water trials river water quality monitors at Wharfe bathing site

Yorkshire Water is testing water quality monitors from six different suppliers at sites along the River Wharf, with a view to providing near real time information for swimmers at the Ilkely bathing site, and to improve bathing water quality.

The company will install 21 monitors in the year long trial. It said they have been installed in line with the draft requirements in the Environment Act and will measure levels of dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH values, turbidity, levels of ammonia. The Environment Act requirements are yet to be finalised and will not come into force until 2025 but the company hopes to demonstrate how the legislation could work.

A key part of the project will be to link the data collected by the 21 water quality monitors to data from the sewer network. 120 sewer level and flow monitors are being installed in the town as part of Yorkshire Water’s smart network project. This will be analysed by StormHarvester software to look at the water quality and any impact the discharges from combined sewer overflows have.

If the trial is successful, Yorkshire plans to provide near real time water quality insights to the public so they can make informed decisions on entering the bathing water.