Testing on River Ure carried out across North Yorkshire

At the end of August, the water along the length of the River Ure was sampled at 45 sites from the top of Wensleydale to beyond Boroughbridge.

The testing, which was carried out by 41 volunteers working with the Yorkshire Dales River Trust (YDRT) and Stop Ure Pollution group, aimed to try and find out the extent of the pollution in the watercourse in North Yorkshire.

River Ure (Image: PIP POINTON)

This new testing comes months after a public meeting heard that parts of the River Ure were so polluted by untreated sewerage that it was "unsafe for children to play in it".

Around 100 people attended a meeting about the health of the River Ure in May this year at Leyburn Methodist Church Hall - where they heard about the fears raised over the detrimental impact of sewerage on the river, and what this was doing to communities.

In particular, the meeting noted that Bishopdale Beck in Wensleydale was one of the most problematic areas - with campaigners highlighting that if children played in the water, they risk becoming unwell.

Paul Markie and Nick Gaskell collecting samples at Aysgarth Middle Falls (Image: PIP POINTON)

The chairman of Stop Ure Pollution, Prof Richard Loutoka, said: "It was great to see that SUP volunteers made up almost 88% of the citizen scientists sampling the Ure.

"This confirmed how concerned our residents are about the state of the river and are prepared to do something about it. I’m sure the results will be illuminating and point our way forward."

And Charlotte Simons, YDRT’s Catchment Partnership Senior Project Manager added: "This scale of testing has only been made possible due to the support of the volunteers. 

"Their support at two local meetings in Leyburn the first on April 30 about the health of the River Ure, sponsored by the Association of Rural Communities, and the second on June 25 when Stop Ure Pollution (SUP) was launched, has led directly to this sampling being possible, the results of which will be used to identify key issues and areas where work is needed to improve the quality of the river."

Thirty-six volunteers were trained on taking water samples at a session at Lords Bridge on the Bolton Estate on August 14 with Simons and Mary Boyd from the YDRT.

They formed the core of samplers on August 21, making up ten teams of volunteers, sampling from the top of the Ure at Lunds all the way downstream to Aldborough,  which is south of Boroughbridge, close to the confluence of the Ure and the Swale.

When thanking the water samplers afterwards, Mr Boyd said: ‘All the kits and samples arrived safely and the samples [for faecal bacterial levels] reached the lab by 5pm [on August 21]. The lab has confirmed that there were no issues with any of the samples received."

Paul Markie and Nick Gaskell collecting samples at Aysgarth Middle Falls (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

The samples were sent to ALS independent accredited laboratories at Wakefield and Coventry with the cost of the testing being met by Yorkshire Water.

There will be another sampling day when the river water is high. 

Mr Boyd added: "The purpose of the testing is to get a snapshot of the health of the River Ure by measuring a series of elements. 

"Sampling at multiple sites along the Ure and its tributaries will enable us to understand the chemical and biological profile of the river and help us gauge the relative importance of different pollution sources – under the same weather and river conditions.

"The samples taken will be tested for nitrates, phosphates, faecal bacterial levels, suspended solids, pH and total organic carbon. 

"Measurements will be taken at each sample point for water temperature, conductivity and turbidity.  This snapshot will show the relative health of the river along with identifying areas of diffuse and point source pollution."

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A short report on the results of the sampling on August 21 will be  presented by YDRT at the public meeting being held by SUP  at Leyburn Methodist Church Hall at 6.30pm on Tuesday, October 1.

A full report will be prepared by YDRT  after the second day of testing.

At the meeting on October 1, people will be invited to join Stop Ure Pollution and donations will be welcome. 

There will be exhibitions about water sampling, Stop Ure Pollution and Yorkshire Dales River Trust at the Quaker Meeting Houses at Bainbridge and Leyburn from October 3 to 5.