Volunteers launch network for water testing

A TEAM of volunteers is launching a new, community-led initiative to check water quality around the Teignmouth coast and estuary.

Water Watch has been set up two provide more frequent, more localised information across the River Teign estuary and surrounding coastal waters.

Led by Friends of the River Teign, the programme will expand public access to water quality data through a network of monitoring locations covering key bathing and recreational waters in the Teign estuary.

Volunteers attended a training session on Teignmouth’s Back Beach to learn how to use the state of the art equipment to monitor water quality at four locations throughout August.

These will be Teignmouth town (Front) beach, back beach, Shaldon beach and Coombe Cellars.

Stuart Reynolds, chairman of Friends of the River Teign, explained: ‘The Environment Agency’s bathing water testing provides an essential regulatory baseline, but is very limited in coverage and sampling frequency.

‘Water Watch is intended to complement this by filling information gaps between official sampling points and providing a more continuous picture of water quality conditions.

‘We are testing at busy locations where there are a lot of water users but often limited data about recent water quality.’

Unlike statutory monitoring undertaken by the Environment Agency, which typically focuses on designated bathing waters and provides periodic, often weekly, sampling during the bathing season, Water Watch is designed to deliver daily readings.

It will provide these daily, near real time readings during August and use a wider network of sampling locations, including estuarine sites not routinely covered by statutory programmes.

FORT says the volunteers will report results quickly, which will ‘improve transparency and accessibility’.

The community-driven data collection will also support a better local understanding of pollution patterns.

Water Watch has been developed to help swimmers, water users, conservation groups, and local residents better understand changing water quality conditions across the Teign catchment.

Its aim is to improve awareness of pollution events and trends and support safer recreational water use.

The group will also provide evidence for ‘catchment management and environmental improvement’ and encourage community engagement with river and coastal health.

Paula Grigch, from Friends of the River Teign, said: ‘This project has only been possible with the financial support and encouragement provided by Teignmouth Town Council, Shaldon Parish Council and Bishopsteignton Parish Council.

‘We’ve also had lots of private donations and funds from local councillors.

‘Their support has been instrumental in enabling the initial deployment of monitoring equipment and establishing the first phase of the Water Watch programme. Each test costs around £30 so we are always looking for new funds.’

Water Watch’s long-term ambition is to create a sustained, transparent, and community-owned set of data that complements statutory monitoring and helps drive improvements in water quality across the Teign catchment.