Harrow Rivers Group working for cleaner rivers
My colleague Sophia Gregorio visited Harrow Rivers Group in January and wrote this report, with thanks to Harrow Rivers Group for checking some points:
The Harrow Rivers Group is a newly formed group who focus on monitoring water quality on the Crane, Colne and Brent Rivers which all have their headwaters in Harrow. Their primary focus is on the Brent, Yeading Brook, and Crane rivers, with a key aim of improving data sharing between these three rivers. Currently, much of the available data and initiatives are isolated, and the group seeks to bridge these gaps to create a more interconnected approach to monitoring and conservation.
Harrow Rivers Group is a sub-committee of the Harrow Heritage Trust and work closely with organisations such as Clean up the River Brent (CURB), Citizen Crane, The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Harrow Nature Conservation Forum, and Cartographer. The group have over the past 4 years being carrying out monthly riverfly monitoring at the RMI site at Yeading Walk supporting ZSL and Harrow Nature Conservation Forum along the Crane Catchment which serves as an indicator to overall river health. The two key volunteers, Angelique and Alan, have received extensive training to lead this initiative and are hoping to get more volunteers involved. During a recent riverfly monitoring session I attended, we made an exciting discovery- a cased caddis was spotted, which had not been found in that stretch of river in the previous 4 years of monitoring! This finding highlights the importance of continuous monitoring in tracking ecological changes.
To further their monitoring work, the group secured a grant from the Crane Valley Community Fund to purchase 10 water quality testing kits These devices will be placed in strategic areas to try and gain a better understanding of when water pollution is high or where it fluctuates significantly, such as under bridges or in culverted sections of the river. The solar-powered water testing kits will remain in the water for over a year, providing continuous real time data to improve monitoring and detect patterns. For example, the group has found that pollution levels often spike during the morning or when people come home from work.
Harrow Rivers Group is working with John Clifford, a member of CURB, who is providing technical support to Harrow Rivers Group. The boards for the water testing devices rely on custom-built circuit boards, coding, and SIM card communication, ensuring that data is transmitted at regular intervals. This data will be used to inform us when to actively sample the watercourse to identify what is causing pollution.
Riverfly monitoring on Yeading Brook with Harrow Rivers Group
Building the water quality monitoring equipment
(TDS means ‘Total Dissolved Solids’)
Cased caddis found in Yeading Brook
