A POST on social media recently regarding the Abberd Brook has prompted the Friends of the Marden Valley and River Warriors to release an update on the brook's water quality.
The Facebook post, voiced concerns that the river appeared to be 'no more than an open sewer stream'.
The original poster stated: "There’s either a major contamination seeping out of Hills rubbish cell through the water table or there’s a sewage spill constantly going on there and coming down the stream, either way it needs urgently investigating, that water needs to be tested ASAP, it is so bad that it needs fencing off so no kids or pets can go near it , it is seriously contaminated!"
Over sixty comments were added to the post from residents sharing their anger and fears at the potential contamination causing harm to the wildlife, pets and children.
However, both Friends of the Marden Valley and River Warriors had already noticed the current appearance Abberd Brook and had contacted the Environment Agency and Wessex Water.
The groups have now joined forces to release the following statement:
"We have seen lots of posts on social media recently about the state of the Abberd Brook which leads into the River Marden.
We were also concerned by the state of the brook at the present moment. Certainly it is not helped by the lack of rainfall over the past two months. A couple of weeks ago we sent some pictures of the brook to the Environment Agency. Wessex Water visited the brook on two occasions in the last few weeks and have tested the water."
The Environment Agency reported back:
'Wessex Water attended site on Friday at 16:30 and checked their pumping station, which was fine. They walked up and down the brook between Brook Way and Angel Close and took some samples to test for ammonia (which indicates sewage) the tests came back clear so there doesn’t appear to be evidence of sewage entering the brook.
It may be just sediment caught up with weed that has built up over time or natural weed growth or die off which is more visible due to dropping water levels in the dry weather.'
River Warriors volunteers are out every two weeks to look after the area around the brook. One of our members has been volunteering along the brook since 2008. We always report issues with the EA if we are concerned. Oil was poured into the brook in February 2024, resulting in a 10 days clean up operation. Sometimes washing machine water appears through faulty waste water connections.
Despite the reduced rainfall our river chemistry monitoring shows that that the River Marden remains in moderate to good conditions, with little variation.
In regards to the Wharf: the status of wildlife there is in fact somewhat encouraging, we have had people recording otters at the bridge near Marden House as well as have observed an increase in Brown Trout in the area.
Our e-DNA studies of the River Marden have confirmed many of the species expected in the area, and we plan to restock the River Marden with elvers shortly."
If you would like to know more about the Friends of the River Marden, or join in their efforts visit them here: https://www.friendsofthemardenvalley.co.uk/
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