One of the projects that Stormwater Shepherds UK is working on at the moment is a data-gathering exercise to measure the level of phosphorus in urban runoff from a variety of surfaces. Nutrient pollution is becoming more of an issue in England as the regulator, Natural England, is insisting that all new developments in polluted catchments remove phosphorus from their stormwater. But it has been tough to design treatment schemes because we don’t know the level of pollution in the runoff. Working with United Utilities, Stormwater Shepherds UK are sampling runoff when it is raining from 20 different urban surfaces in Bolton, ranging from a commercial roof to a public footpath in a park. We will sample each surface 6 times to collect a set of data to guide the design work. At the moment we are having to use American or European data so it will be good to have some more local information.
How do we use research to change Policy?
Stormwater Shepherds UK has been sampling pollution from road runoff
