The Facts

March brought a marked spring shift in River Mole catchment water quality. Across our 33 monitoring sites, phosphate, nitrate and conductivity all rose noticeably compared with February as less rainfall fell, river flows dropped and dilution decreased. This month we review those changing seasonal conditions, examine the main pollution hotspots emerging in the River Mole and tributaries, and compare the latest storm overflow data with recent years to assess whether progress is

River Mole River Watch citizen science reveals how storm overflows pushed pollution higher during the season rivers should have lowest pollution concentration. This winter our dedicated citizen scientists have been out testing in rain and flood conditions, and their data are now revealing a clearer and more detailed understanding of how the River Mole behaves during winter high flows and prolonged periods of sewage overflow activity. Within this growing dataset, some concerni

A Newsflash prompted by recent observations and monitoring results, issued ahead of our next scheduled February catchment update coming soon. More than one kilometre of Earlswood Brook is currently coated in extensive sewage fungus downstream of Reigate / Earlswood Sewage Treatment Works (STW), following a period of prolonged storm overflow activity at the site. The growth blankets large sections of the stream bed, banks and in-channel debris in thick grey-brown mats — a well