Environment Agency officers say that main rivers around South Yorkshire have survived the worst of last month’s polluted floodwater.
Sheffield received the most rain it had ever had in one day, causing widespread flooding across the county which was contaminated with sewage and other substances.
Once the floods receded, much of the floodwater drained back into the rivers and since then a
four-strong team from the Environment Agency has been taking daily water samples from 12 sites on the Don, Rother and Dearne to monitor the pollution.
Now, the team is scaling back its operation because tests show that although ammonia levels are still quite high, the region’s rivers are returning to normal.
Environment Agency team leader for the area Jo Briddock said: “Although ammonia is still quite high due to sewage in the water, the oxygen levels have held up which has helped the river’s wildlife to survive.
“This is good news for South Yorkshire. A lot of work has been done to help the rivers recover from the region’s industrial heritage, and it looks as if the recent pollution hasn’t been a major setback.â€
Jo said that the cool weather had helped to keep water temperatures low in the rivers, and oxygen levels up. High oxygen levels are good for fish and help them survive when pollution is present.
All 12 sample sites are in urban areas and include the River Don near Magna, the Rother near Tesco in Rotherham and the Don at North Bridge in Doncaster.
From this week staff will reduce their daily tests to three times a week for all but two sample sites which are close to Blackburn Meadows sewage treatment works in Sheffield.
Blackburn Meadows handles all Sheffield’s sewage and was overwhelmed by the floods in June which meant that untreated sewage entered the Don.
Yorkshire Water worked round the clock to restore treatment at the facility, and the Environment Agency will continue monitoring the water quality nearby more regularly as a precaution.
Staff have also been helped in their task by having four monitors on the Don which measure water quality 24 hours a day.
The information is fed through to the team at Templeborough who can check the water quality at any time.
The equipment was installed as part of a project to look at the Don’s recovery following a pollution incident last July which killed fish between Rotherham and Doncaster. However it has been invaluable in recent weeks to assess water quality issues in the aftermath of the floods.
Under normal circumstances, the Environment Agency samples the river quality in the area every month.
