Shining a Light on Urban Pollution

Gary Rushworth BSc, MSc, PhD, MCIEEMFreelance Environmental Scientist

An Affiliate of

Friends of Bradford’s Becks

Project Manager Reducing Urban Pollution project

Funded by the Catchment Partnership Action Fund

fobbpollution@gmail.com

Advisory Group

Community Engagement

The potential of Urban Becks is not always obvious even to environmental scientists, but we must have imagination and ambition.

Education, Awareness, and Monitoring

Educational Advisory Group

Development of a resource Children including school syllabuses Property owners Plumbers and builders General Public (Citizenship)

Advice from FoBB Trustees/members Yorkshire Water Field Studies Centre Bradford Grammar School Others

Urban pathways and receptors

RECEPTORS

Surface waters

Groundwaters

Bathing waters

Engineered Outfalls

Highway drains

Other storm drains

Diffuse inputs

Diffuse runoff

Groundwater

Direct input

Diffuse Urban Pollution

- Multiple and dispersed sources- Urban not agricultural- Unconsented route

http://www.connectright.org.uk/

How to test for misconnections?

http://www.connectright.org.uk/

Water colour and foaming**** Optical Brighteners *****

Food waste

Sewage fungus and litter

Misconnections WFD

Domestic misconnections to surface drains

ToiletBOD, Solids, Nutrients

AppliancesBOD, Nutrients

SinksBOD, Fats, Nutrients

Mis-use ofgullies

BOD, Prioritypollutants, Nutrients

Peaked in 1945-64, still a major issue

Most common in detached

and semi-detached houses

Silsden Beck

Morton Beck

Loadpit Beck

Gill Beck

River WorthHarden Beck

River Spen

Bradford Beck

River Wharfe

River Aire

River Aire Silsden

Shipley

Bradford

Bingley Keighley

Ilkley

Urban area

Bradford Beck catchment- Clayton Beck WB- Bradford Beck WB

City of Bradford Metropolitan District

Queensbury

Rivers and Becks of the Bradford District

Clayton Beck

Clayton Beck WB

Photos: Simon WarnerPhotos: Photo competition

Brick channel beside Canal Rd

Shipley

Ambler Mill

Downstream Forster Square

West Brook Downstream of West Brook

Canal Road

Bradford Beck WB

Upstream of Cemetery Road D/S Ambler Mill

Shipley

What can be done?

EA: Polluted outfall

reported

Water Co: Catchment

survey to find mis-connections

Household repairs

Household does not

repair

Local authority:

Writes letter

Household repairs

Household does not

repair

Local authority:

Repairs and charges

• In future?• Behaviour changes by householders and plumbers• Reduced loads of chemicals• Incompatible fittings between storm and foul systems• SuDS guidance - reduce the potential impact of surface water drainage discharges

• Now