Thanks to the donations Stop Ure Pollution it has been possible to continue testing river water at Aysgarth Falls and Ulshaw Bridge using Bactiquick (click on each to see the spreadsheets of results).
Prof Richard Loutoka (chairman of SUP) commented that the endotoxin levels at Aysgarth Falls were in the high risk range whether at high or low river levels which was concerning.
He said:’ The Ulshaw Bridge results (very elevated fields highlighted in red, elevated levels in amber) show the week to week variability in one site and confirms that a single good result may be misleading. Hence the need for regular testing allowing a 90th or 95th centile figure to be calculated.’
The need for more testing was emphasised at SUP’s first AGM on September 23rd 2025. Charlotte Simons of the Yorkshire Dales River Trust presented the final report of the testing carried out by SUP volunteers on two days during 2024.
She said: ‘We have established a baseline water quality profile but it is still considered a snapshot. We need to do a lot more [testing] to get more standardisation.’ She added the levels of E-coli showed that there were concerns about people bathing at Aysgarth Falls.
She would like to see testing carried out which would identify if the bacteria was from human or animal sources. But the YDRT doesn’t have the funds at present for more detailed testing.
Richard told the 90-strong audience that SUP had been able to purchase a Bactiquick testing machine and the reagents required. The latter cost £150 for five. But it would like to purchase a Fluidion machine which was even more effective - but much more expensive.
It would be even better, he said, if the Environment Agency was regularly testing for E-coli but that would require a site such as Aysgarth Falls having designated bathing water status. The rules for this were based on sea bathing, hence the requirement of proving that 100 people on two different days bathed at a site. And bathing didn’t include other water users such as those paddling, paddle-boarding, or fishing.
‘I think it is highly unlikely we will get it unless they change the rule from bathers to water users,’ he said.
Instead, with SUP funds, he has been using Bactiquick to carry out weekly tests at Aysgarth Falls and Ulshaw Bridge. As the results, especially at Aysgarth Falls, have constantly shown high risk levels since he started in July, he told the meeting that the alternative was to have citizens’ designated recreational water status so warning signs could be displayed. But such signs would cost £300 to £500.
He encouraged people to continue reporting pollution events to the Environmental Agency (EA). When they did so they should state where the incident was, take photos and make sure they were given a reference number. He added that any dead fish should not be removed from the water but left for the EA to see. He asked them to then inform SUP so it could follow up on the issue.
Richard also encouraged people to check the storm overflow map on the Yorkshire Water website. ‘We all need to work together,’ he said.
Details of the 2025 to 2030 Yorkshire Water plan were outlined by Steve Jackson, Strategy Manager for YW, who commented: ‘This is our biggest environmental programme.’ One objective is, he said, to reduce storm overflows by laying new pipes to separate rain water from sewerage. His colleague, George Taplin, added that YW was aiming to install a predictive warning so that problems could be spotted before there was an impact upon the environment.
