The River Clyde has become the first river in Scotland to be monitored for pollution 24 hours a day at strategic locations down its length. Key water quality parameters can now be measured and data displayed by radio links direct to SEPA's West Region offices so that immediate operational response, early warning, and long-term trend analysis can be maintained.

The state of the art SEPA project has been triggered because of the large quantity of discharges to this high profile river as it flows through Glasgow. The effluents from major sewage treatment works, in particular, present a risk of overloading the river should problems arise. This could result in serious pollution - particularly in the stretch from Cambuslang to the beginning of the estuary where the Rivers Cart and Kelvin meet.

"A major benefit of the system will be that results will be available for operational use, in real time, to SEPA offices, rather than the present limited monthly sampling," said Calum McPhail, SEPA's Environmental Science Unit Manager. "The system will be able to produce over 7000 data points a month, in contrast to 20 chemical samplings a month at present.

The new Clyde system is based on a network already existing in the River Thames, where the Environment Agency already has a background of considerable investment and experience with this type of instrumentation.

Editors Note

• This project represents an investment of £65,000.
  
• Water Quality parameters measured by the system include Dissolved Oxygen, pH, conductivity, ammonia and turbidity.