When the river and some tributaries were tested on October 9th 2024 it was found that none of those tributaries would have met the sufficient (safe) level for inland bathing and the concentration of E coli at Aysgarth Falls was eight times above that level. The highest E-coli concentration was recorded on the River Tutt at Boroughbridge.
Yorkshire Dales River Trust report
What did we do and what did we find:
Following the first round of sampling on the River Ure in dry conditions in August 2024, a follow-up sampling event was held on 9th October 2024. Ten teams of citizen scientists took water samples from 45 sites along the full length of the river and some of its major tributaries at approximately the same time on the same day. The samples were analysed by ALS Ltd for the faecal bacteria E. coli as well as nutrient and chemical analysis. The activity was organised by Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust with support from Stop Ure Pollution. We would like to thank the many volunteers who assisted with the sampling.
Left to right: Charlotte Simons, Richard Loukota, Mark Thompson and Mary Boyd.
On July 14 Charlotte Simons and Mary Boyd of the Yorkshire Dales River Trust met with Richard Loukota and Mark Thompson of Stop Ure Pollution (SUP) at Leyburn Quaker Meeting House to plan the river-length testing of the Ure beginning of August 21st. The SUP committee is very grateful to Leyburn Quaker Meeting House for allowing it to meet there even when there was no cash in the kitty!
Yorkshire Dales River Trust report:
When ten teams of citizen scientists (mainly SUP voluntees) took water samples from 45 sites along the full length of the River Ure and some of its major tributaries at approximately the same time on the same day on August 21st 2024 it was found that at almost half of the sites the E.coli concentrations were above the levels deemed sufficient (safe) for inland bathing water. . The samples were analysed by ALS Ltd for the faecal bacteria E. coli as well as nutrient and chemical analysis. The activity was organised by Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust with support from Stop Ure Pollution. [Yorkshire Water paid for the analysis of the samples.]
Read more: River test results August 2024 - with team photos