Algal bloom in Windemere

[dan_b]

Reading online about a huge blue-green algal bloom in Lake Windemere which is threatening the whole lake.
Here's an aerial photo from helicopter.
Clear signs of fish struggling with the lack of oxygen



The local authority is "aware". Whoopie doo.
https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringf ... ality-faqs

I do open water swimming, but looking at that, I'm not sure I'd be happy to swim in the lake right now. I hope the lake recovers.

[Mr Gus]

When the likes of Windermere is affected you would think that would sound klaxons & kickstart a national "reduce phosphates in washing liquids" etc ...

Would have to be a really slow news day I guess.

[Countrypaul]

I thought phosphates in washing products had been banned several years ago in this country (all EEC at the time).

[Oldgreybeard]

I thought phosphates in washing products had been banned several years ago in this country (all EEC at the time).

Pretty sure they have, plus I doubt that the Windermere catchment area has much in the way of polluted run off, most of the water most probably comes from the hills and mountains and I think there's very little in the way of arable farming up there. This is probably just a natural occurrence, albeit one influenced by man-made changes to the climate.

[billi]

Reading online about a huge blue-green algal bloom in Lake Windemere which is threatening the whole lake.
Here's an aerial photo from helicopter.
Clear signs of fish struggling with the lack of oxygen



The local authority is "aware". Whoopie doo.
https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringf ... ality-faqs

I do open water swimming, but looking at that, I'm not sure I'd be happy to swim in the lake right now. I hope the lake recovers.

Well , they still struggle to find the reason of the over 10 tons and much more of dead fish in a Polish/German River called Oder , first it was toxic Mercury they thought , and other chemicals , or high levels of oxygen
today i read it might be the algea growth in the water that made that oxygen amount happen

I asume that when we are as humans are deluted so ar rivers are

Algee in its person are not generally bad , could be helpfull too and strange enough is a plant that does photosynthesizes , that is esential for the planet

[AE-NMidlands]

I think it is ironic that phosphates were removed from washing powder (because of the downstream environmental problems like this) but they now use phosphoric acid to stop plumbo-solvency in mains water! It's obviously a lot cheaper to blend in a liquid acid than it is to dissolve lime, then settle out what won't dissolve. They acknowledge that sewage works don't adequately remove P eitther.

There are other things that have disappeared from what used to be water by-laws (set when the public interest and minimising waste were the highest priorities) too:
External overflows gave a clear indication, now you don't realise you have a failing ball-valve as it just drains into the pan
Reduced-volume flushes used to rely on you holding the handle down to continue the flow, our new one relies on you holding it down to cut it off!

I'm sure it's no coincidence that these changes increase the bills of the people on meters...
A

[Oldgreybeard]

There are other things that have disappeared from what used to be water by-laws (set when the public interest and minimising waste were the highest priorities) too:
External overflows gave a clear indication, now you don't realise you have a failing ball-valve as it just drains into the pan
Reduced-volume flushes used to rely on you holding the handle down to continue the flow, our new one relies on you holding it down to cut it off!

I'm sure it's no coincidence that these changes increase the bills of the people on meters...
A

I've yet to find one of these newer style ball valves that doesn't start insidiously leaking after a year or two. I've replaced all three of ours at least once, one has been changed twice, in the space of about 7 years. One that was replaced only a couple of years ago is weeping again now, hard to actually see it's leaking until a grey smear appears from algae growing in the constantly wet area at the rear of the toilet bowl. The valves themselves also seem to universally be crap, even the brand name ones are just cheap bits of brittle plastic with poor quality materials.

I have found one side entry float valve that so far has held up without leaking for about 4 years, and looks to be better than any others. It's a magnetically operated device, that uses a servo valve to positively shut off the flow. The internals are stainless steel and seem to be of a better quality than most: https://www.bes.co.uk/abertax-magnetic- ... lve-21341/

[dan_b]

Wow, both the Mail and the Telegraph have picked up on this story now - although maybe don't actually click on the links as you'll pollute your own brains by getting into their media ecosystems!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -pets.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/0 ... pollution/

[Mr Gus]

Thanks for the spam news, celebrity news spam warning ..links avoided.