Brook latest and drinking water

Last week we had another Ruscombe Brook Action Group meeting. Things are moving ahead nicely - Severn Trent are now doing flow monitoring in sewers along the Randwick Tributary - this could lead to relining there as well. Other projects like improving grit bins, advice to householders and more are also moving forward. We also have a walk planned along the brook for 5th April to get to know it better and see any new problems - anyone want to join us?

Cartoon: Ruscombe Brook: now without sewage for most of the time - cartoon courtesy of "local scribbler Russell"

The other news is that a research student, Ilaria Pretto, from Trento University in Italy, is looking to take on to produce a report on a holistic water management scheme for both Slad and Ruscombe Brooks. She will be undertaking a Masters degree in Environmental Management, looking at traditional land management, community control, renewable energy, public health issues etc. She will build upon the work already done by Ismaila, the previous Masters student. The work will cover the upper reaches survey, consultation and costings, which are actions for this project. She will have additional academic support from Professor Lindsey McEwen at University of Gloucestershire and will complete work by September 08.

Anyway while on water, blog readers will know I have had a go at bottled water on this blog. Stroud District Council is alright as they don't use it, but Panorama recently found that councils spend a staggering £5 million a year on bottled water. High spenders in the South West include Bristol City Council (£53,000, including the cost of sanitising water coolers and dispensers) and Swindon Borough Council (£34,668) and Herefordshire (£25,000). The Western Daily Press quoted Green Party councillor Charlie Bolton who slammed Bristol City Council for spending so much on bottled water. He said: "I go to council meetings and at every one there are upturned flagons of water in plastic bottles, dispensed in plastic cups by the dozens. It's totally incompatible with being a Green Capital of Europe."

How good is drinking water?

Yet drinking water does not appear to be as clean as we are led to believe. In the US a vast array of pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans. See article here. The concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Nevertheless we have to ask what are the long-term consequences to human health?

Interestingly the Stroud Water Research Center, in Avondale, Pa., (no relation as far as I know to Stroud, Gloucestershire) has measured water samples from New York City's upstate watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more caffeine was detected at suburban sites, they were struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas.

Users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground. The article points out that contamination is not confined to the United States - and indeed we know of fish in UK waterways that have changed sex and more. Our waterways are I am sure very similar.

All this leads to yet more support for using reedbed systems that can help remove pharmaceuticals from our sewage. This is something the brook group have been advocating for the problems locally. Clearly we also need more research in this area to establish what risks, if any, there are from these traces of drugs.