A claim that E. coli levels in a Teign estuary watercourse were once so high they were “off the scale” has prompted a local environmental charity to seek funding for an extensive summer water testing programme.
Joanne Stark, trustee of Friends of the River Teign, told members of Teignmouth’s Finance and Resources Committee that the group was seeking a £2,000 grant to help fund daily water quality testing throughout August.
The charity plans to take water samples every day for a month at four locations around the Teign estuary, including Teignmouth’s Front Beach and Back Beach, with results available within minutes rather than days.
Speaking to councillors, Joanne said the project would help provide reassurance to residents, swimmers and visitors during the busiest part of the tourism season.
She said concerns over water quality were already having an impact on people’s perceptions of the area.
Joanne told the committee that after a recent pollution incident she received calls from holidaymakers wanting to know whether it was safe to enter the water.
She said: “We would love to be able to tell people it is safe because we all know, all the people who live here know, that actually it is safe most of the time.”
Friends of the River Teign was established almost two years ago to advocate for the river from its source to its mouth and has since been involved in environmental projects and scientific research.
Explaining the need for more frequent testing, Joanne highlighted an incident during Teignmouth Carnival when heavy rainfall caused a dramatic spike in contamination levels.
She said: “The E. coli that came out of Bitton Brook was off the scale. The Environment Agency could not actually read it. It was too high.”
Joanne said water quality could vary considerably depending on weather conditions and argued that more regular testing would provide a better understanding of what was happening across the estuary.
The proposed project would see around 124 samples taken during August, compared with the 12 to 15 tests that might typically be carried out by the Environment Agency over a similar period.
The charity plans to test for a range of organisms and pollutants, including Vibrio bacteria, while DNA analysis would also be used to help identify whether contamination came from human or agricultural sources.
Joanne said the organisation had already raised £800 itself and secured a further £1,000 through other grants.
Councillors asked whether the scale of the project could place pressure on volunteers, particularly as samples would need to be collected every day.
Joanne said volunteers had already come forward to help and insisted no samples would be missed.
She said: “We will not miss a day because if we miss a day, we are going to mess it up.”
The group intends to take samples from the same locations at the same time each day to ensure consistency.
One councillor asked where the results would be published.
Joanne said the charity would take a cautious approach to releasing its findings because of the potential impact on local businesses and tourism.
She said: “Our aim is to inform the public without causing unnecessary alarm.”
Initial findings will be shared with Friends of the River Teign before wider publication following analysis of the data collected during the August testing programme.
