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As an environmental charity (although too small to be registered with the Charity Commission), Cam Valley Forum is keen to see one or more short stretches of the Cam have a Bathing Water Designation because of the environmental benefits that it will bring. In Cambridge City, we think Sheeps Green is the most likely spot. South Cambs District Council are also actively investigating the feasibility of applying, following a council motion from Cllr Pippa Heylings in September 2022. We look forward to hearing what they decide.

Some people have expressed understandable cynicism about whether designation will actually make a difference, so we thought it would be useful to summarise our current understanding of why it is worth the effort.

Bathing Water Designation shines a light on the water quality at a specific site which puts polluters in the spotlight. Many of us, including Friends of the Cam and others have been campaigning about the poor water quality in the Cam for years, with frustratingly little result. However, designation results in official recognition. As we know the resulting water quality will almost certainly be “poor”, this will give legal teeth to our demands. This status will be displayed on the Swiminfo website, and at the site.

Once designation is granted the Environment Agency will test the water quality throughout the bathing season for Intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli (E.Coli) Although in Cam Valley Forum we tested every few months in 2021-22 as volunteers, and Anglian Water are testing for us weekly from September 2022-23, the data is often a month or two old by the time we’re able to upload it our website. When the Environment Agency undertake testing for a Designated Bathing Water site, they upload the data to the swiminfo website within about a week. This will make it much more useful to those of us that care about the health of the river, and to swimmers deciding whether to swim. For example, here is the data that was displayed for Ikley in Yorkshire, on 26 May 2023. (The river at Ilkley was the first inland site to get Designation)

At the end of the bathing season the designated site will be given a classification of: Excellent, Good, Sufficient or  Poor. With our likely designation of “poor”, (which we understand would apply for the next year) designation is much more likely to deter, rather than attract new visitors. Ikley have seen no change in the number of swimmers in since designation, despite huge publicity. Swimming will still be allowed, so keen local swimmers will probably continue to swim, but they will be better informed about the level of risk.

Where the designation is “Poor”, the Environment agency is legally required to investigate to identify the sources of pollution. Although we’re doing what we can, they can do much more. For example, they can do DNA analysis to see if the source is human, animal or birds. Although we strongly suspect that the biggest single source is Haslingfield Sewage Works, this independent expert investigation will be incredibly helpful.

Once the source is identified, the Environment Agency will require improvements to be made to clean up. As part of the bizarrely complicated mechanism that regulates the water industry, this releases the OfWat funding that allows the work to be done. Robin Price Director of Quality and Environment for Anglian Water tells us: “Formal designation of a bathing water stretch provides us with a ‘driver’ for investment under the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) – our five-year environmental investment plan – which, if accepted by the Environment Agency should mean that Ofwat grant us the funding.  This investment could include the installation of disinfection at the treatment works and/or improvements to any storm overflows in the area upstream of the bathing water.”

He continued “Please feel free to report that you have Anglian Water’s full support of the application, and that we will be happy to provide a letter of support to Defra at the appropriate moment“

In summary: Designation is no panacea, and we won’t see instant results, but, as at Ilkley it will help improve the water quality, which is something we’ve all been campaigning for.

This is why we’ve decided that its worth trying to get bathing water designation for at least Sheeps Green. We are liasing with South Cambs District Council, and Cambridge City Council about this.

To apply, the application will need to show that there is local support, so we are planning to do a formal consultation later in the summer. It will also need to show evidence that the site is currently well used by swimmers, so we will be counting the number of swimmers using Sheeps Green on at least 20 days during the peak swimming season.

If you would like to help with this, do get in touch with us info@camvalleyforum.uk

At a packed AGM of the Cam Valley Forum (CVF) on 20th March, a resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority calling for a hosepipe ban to take effect from 1st July 2023. Why would the CVF want people not to use hoses in their gardens in high summer? 

During hot, dry summers our water consumption in Cambridge can increase by 30%.  This causes the Chalk springs and streams to dry up. The Cam becomes little more than an elongated pond, with the trickle over the weirs at Jesus Green being largely made up of the effluent discharged from upstream sewage treatment works. 

Almost all the water supplied to our homes and businesses is pumped from the ground water in the Chalk strata under us. You may think that with all the rain falling in the Cambridge area recently, these aquifers should be full to the brim. Well, no. According to even the April update the Environment Agency advised that Cambridge is still officially in drought.

Cambridgeshire’s Chalk streams are rare and wonderful. When fed from water-full aquifers, they flow at constant rate and constant temperature regardless of season or rainfall. We should value and protect them as passionately as we would urge Brazil to protect its rain forests.

Significant ecological harm has already been done, and, unless rapid action is taken to reduce abstraction, the situation is going to get very much worse, exacerbated by the rapid population growth in the Cambridge area and climate change.  There are proposals to transfer water from Grafham Water and to build a new reservoir near Chatteris, but it seems unlikely that new water supplies from these or any other significant sources will be available before 2032. 

Abstraction of groundwater could be reduced if we were to use water more sparingly. On average Cambridge residents use around 150 litres of water per person per day, much greater than the 50 to 100 litres per person per day which the World Health Organization says should be sufficient.  However the most effective way of reducing water consumption and making everyone aware of the need to save water is to impose a well-publicised hosepipe ban.

Cambridge Water have a Drought Plan that was only finalised in April 2022, however sadly this is not fit for purpose.  It states that it should be necessary to introduce a hosepipe ban not more than once in 20 years.  The reason behind their extraordinary complacency is that they calculate that they can meet their statutory obligation of keeping water flowing through our taps by sucking it out from deeper and deeper into our Chalk aquifers.  This may be true, however they also have a responsibility towards the environment, which is what their over-abstraction is harming.

They say that implementing a Hosepipe Ban from 1^st July would be a deviation from their drought plan, and that they could not do this without the agreement of the Environment Agency and DEFRA.  So we asked them to start the process of getting agreements from all concerned, using the overwhelming evidence justifying it that we have provided.  After a letter to the CEO, Andy Willicott, and several emails and responses from his Strategy and Regulations Director, and a zoom meeting, it is apparent that Cambridge Water Company will not willingly do this.

To understand Cambridge Water Company we should look at how it has evolved.  In 1610 Hobson’s Conduit was constructed to bring Chalk spring water from Nine Wells into Cambridge.  In 1853 Royal Assent was granted to a ‘good honest company formed to supply the town with water’.  This was the origin of Cambridge Water, a once much-respected Company.  To meet demand, it abstracted from the Chalk aquifer, which had been thought to have a limitless supply of pristine water. However as more and more boreholes were created it became apparent that abstraction was affecting the water table and causing Chalk springs to dry up.  To counter this, in the 1980s, it was decided to pump water from the boreholes to augment the springs that had been harmed. This further reduced the level of the water table.  In 1990 the water industry was privatised and Cambridge Water was then bought and sold four times before becoming part of South Staffordshire Water PLC, which is based in Walsall, and is a subsidiary of SSW Finance Ltd.

Inevitably SWW Finance’s key objective is to make money to fund, amongst other things, shareholders’ dividends and bonuses for senior executives.  The more mains water supplied the more money is made. So, is our natural environment a victim of greedonomics?  CVF would hope not, and we are actively engaging with Cambridge Water Company regarding their Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP), which is currently out for consultation.  They have now agreed to re-appraise the triggers for action on droughts, and to try to reduce the delay between the trigger being activated and action being taken.  This would seem to indicate that they take their responsibility for the environment seriously.  They have engaged the management consultants Skewb Ltd to prepare a five-year plan for reducing water consumption.  However, the measures that are being proposed are most unlikely to keep pace with increasing demand due the area’s growth, or slow down the environmental damage that is being caused.  Cambridge Water need to wake-up to the climate emergency that the City Council declared in 2019. 

Gentle persuasion to reduce water consumption has too limited an effect.  Sadly, high-summer hosepipe bans will be needed if Cambridge Water is to begin to stem the deterioration of our precious Chalk spring fed streams between now and when reservoirs may start replacing boreholes.  We will also need to use water much more sparingly.

Michael Goodhart for Cam Valley Forum.

Cam Valley Forum’s 16 top tips for saving water.

1. Go to www.cambridge-water.co.uk/saving-water and join GetWaterFit, the interactive on-line tool that provides advice and from which you can order free water-saving products.
2. If your water supply is not metered, apply to have a free smart meter installed.  This gives an incentive to save water and is likely to save you about £150 pa on water charges.
3. Don’t flush every time you pee- ‘If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down!’
4. Reduce the quantity of water used by WC cisterns.  If you have dual flush, use the lesser flush whenever appropriate.  If not, put a hippo in your cistern:  https://www.hippo-the-watersaver.co.uk/.
5. Fit aerators to taps. These add tiny soft bubbles that reduce the flow of water by about half while maintaining the water pressure, they can be fitted to most taps and are inexpensive.  The water feels nicer and soaks better. https://www.bestproductsreviews.co.uk/tap-aerators
6. Have brief showers instead of baths.  https://www.bestproductsreviews.co.uk/water-saving-shower-head has an excellent choice of shower heads that use much less water by aerating the water to give a better soaking shower.
7. Don’t run the tap when brushing teeth.
8. Only set-off the dishwasher when it is full or nearly full. 
9. Use a bowl in the sink when washing-up manually. Then use the water for plants instead of pouring it down the drain.
10. When buying dishwashers and washing machines select ones that are water efficient.  For example, energy star-rated dishwashers use about two thirds of the water that average dishwashers do.
11. Install water butts with drain downpipe connectors and water plants with rainwater.
12. When the water butts need refilling empty bathwater into them. 
13. Take prompt action to have any leaky appliances in the house, such as dripping taps or overflowing cisterns, repaired or replaced.  Report any leaking water mains to the Cambridge Water Company on 01223 706050.
14. Engage in consultations with schools and businesses to encourage them to reduce their water consumption.
15. https://www.waterwise.org.uk/save-water/   is a helpful website that looks at effective ways to reduce water consumption.
16. Assuming a hosepipe ban is not in place, please use your hosepipes sparingly.  Aim the hose at the base of plants most in need of water, and water them in early morning or evenings when water will soak into the ground rather than evaporating into the air.

We are delighted to say that David Aldridge, Professor of Zoology, of St. Catharine’s College, has accepted our invitation to be our speaker on 20 March.

This is an in-person event, in the  David Attenborough Building, Pembroke St, Cambridge CB2 3QZ

We look forward to hearing how his ideas may apply to the Cam system.

David’s work focuses on applied freshwater ecology, with emphasis on bivalve molluscs. His particular interests are the conservation of rare species and threatened ecosystems, the biology and control of invasive species, and the use of biological processes to develop sustainable remediation and monitoring programmes for degraded waterbodies.   A considerable part of his work involves collaboration with the water industry, government agencies and NGOs, and these collaborations provide a significant part of his research funding. 

Download details here

Visiting: To get to the David Attenborough building, enter the site through the Pembroke Arch on Downing Street and continue straight past the Museum of Zoology. There is lift access opposite the bike racks. Contact CCI for more information.

Picture : Keith Heppell