River Loddon Water Quality Testing

River Loddon Water Testing

“And when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.” – Kenneith Grahame, The Wind in the Willows.

Whispering reeds and rushes, transparent water sparkles and shines in the sunshine. Our Waterways nurture life and our future depends on keeping them clean.

The UK is home to 85% of the world’s chalk streams – some of the most ecologically rare and special habitats on our planet.  

The river Loddon is a chalk stream which rises at Basingstoke and travels north until it reaches the Thames (just west of Wargrave).  There are two important local stretches of river, near Stanford End Mill (Swallowfield) and Bow Brook (Bramley) which are designated as sites of special scientific interest.

Their pure, clear, constant water from underground chalk aquifers and springs, flowing across gravel beds makes them a perfect source of freshwater.  This creates ideal habitats to support a huge variety of wildlife and provide natural protection from flooding by storing water in the landscape and slowing the flow downstream.  Their crystal-clear waters are home for salmon, brown trout, water voles, white-clawed crayfish and kingfishers, making them our equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef or the Amazon Rainforest.

Our rivers are struggling to thrive due to different types of pollution and are being lost from the landscape.  We need to help our rivers thrive again for communities and nature.  To gain a better understanding of pollution levels in our rivers, Wilder Bramley have teamed up with Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council, South East River Trust and Natural Basingstoke to monitor the water quality.

Did you know? The Loddon is one of the five north flowing chalk streams in the world so an extremely rare habitat.

Wilder Bramley are conducting surveys at a site near Longbridge Mill each month.  We are hopeful to be adding another test site location along Bow Brook very soon.  Are you interested in finding out more?

Water Quality Test Parameters – What does it all mean?

Testing the water quality of a UK river is done to assess the health of the river ecosystem, identify potential pollution sources, and ensure the water is safe for various uses like drinking, recreation, and supporting aquatic life, by monitoring levels of contaminants like chemicals, nutrients, and bacteria, which can indicate environmental issues and guide mitigation efforts; this data is crucial for regulatory compliance and environmental protection. 

Wilder Bramley are working collaboratively with other environmental groups to survey the water quality of the River Loddon (classed as a chalk stream) and surrounding tributaries.  The purpose of this project is to start collecting specific data points to act as a benchmark to formally assess and document the health of the river.  By collecting this data it will lead to important conversations around protecting this fragile environment.

The testing involves taking a water sample from the test site and completing 9 individual tests to help us understand the quality of the water.  Here is a brief explanation of the tests and what the results mean.  

The Tests undertaken:

Chlorine

Chlorine is a greenish-yellow, highly reactive gas that is almost never found free in nature by itself.  Most Chlorine is commercially produced and is most widely known for being used within compounds to purify water and create cleaning products.  Since Chlorine is found deep within the Earth’s crust, and is extremely reactive, the only way it can be found in nature is when it reacts with other chemicals and creates compounds. If you see any level of chlorine in your water, you may be near a water treatment plant, or close to someone dumping pool water.

Latest Loddon reading: 0ppm

Alkalinity

This test refers to the concentration of calcium carbonate in the water.  The greater the concentration of alkalinity enables the water to buffer high levels of acidity. The alkalinity of the water is environmentally important because it helps to keep fish and other aquatic animals within a tolerable range of acidity.  The concentration of calcium carbonate is measured in milligrams per litre.

Latest Loddon reading: 180mg/l

Temperature

Water temperature is important to understand the context of the test results.  Temperature controls the rate of many chemical, physical and biological processes.  Different species are adapted to living and breeding in different water temperatures.  Also, warm water holds less dissolved oxygen and can cause stress within the river if suddenly introduced (i.e. treated effluent).  

Latest Loddon reading: 11c