Support our E.coli testing along the River Rother!

We are now fund raising for a second Fluidion machine, as well as the consumables needed to use them for a further year. We estimate that this will need £6,000, with this sponsored walk being the start of this year’s fund raising. Last year we also benefitted greatly from a grant from South Downs National Park Authority.

To this end we are organising a 5km sponsored walk along the Rother between Woolbeding and Stedham, and back again, on 19th April, details here . We are grateful for any donation you are able to make, and do let us know by email if you wish to sponsor somebody in particular or, indeed, to be one of our walkers!.

Eco Rother Action is an independent climate change response group based in the villages between Petersfield and Midhurst. We acknowledge that the climate and biodiversity crises are intertwined and due to this we address both of these in the work we do. We host excellent talks, carry out local environmental work and bring people together.

Being situated in the beautiful Rother valley (Western Rother) we have taken a particular interest in the river, which faces so many challenges. Several of our members are River Guardians supporting the water quality monitoring work of the Western Sussex Rivers Trust. ERA has a close working relationship with WSRT. Last year our sponsored walk contributed significantly towards ERA purchasing a piece of kit called a Fluidion Alert One which enables us to measure E.coli levels in our local waterways, specifically between Petersfield and Midhurst. This is a significant addition to the existing WSRT river monitoring work. Our results can be seen here.

We have been measuring E.coli levels above and below Wastewater Treatment Works (sewage works) and Pumping Stations, as well as at some other sites and are delighted to be receiving support from Portsmouth University, Centre for Environmental and Renewable Energy Solutions, with analysing our results and further developing this project.