South Burn, County Durham
2025, Wear Rivers Trust
On the 16th January 2025, Wear Rivers Trust lead a Riverfly monitoring morning on South Burn in Sacriston, County Durham. Their eager group of volunteers assisted in analysing the potential impact of a local sewage treatment works on the water quality in the burn, which gently meanders its way down to the delightful Daisy Hill Nature Reserve (a SSSI). Two kick samples were performed: one upstream and one downstream of the treatment works, with both sites possessing similar discharge and similar proportions of riverbed substrate types. The upstream site received an RMI score of five, with the downstream site obtaining a score of just three, alerting a trigger level breach. Subsequently, a second kick sample was performed the next morning at the downstream site. In this instance, the site received a score of four, only due to a slight increase in freshwater shrimp.
Having witnessed low biodiversity and abundance across the eight key indicator species, the group investigated the watercourse upstream… They managed to locate a culvert, with a pungent scent of detergent emanating from the outflow. A bright, white foam was also observed just yards from where the river reappears, having taken a four hundred metre break underground. Wear Rivers Trust reported the suspected pollution incident to the Environment Agency as well as the Riverfly Partnership. As a result, action was then immediately taken to remediate the issue by Northumbrian Water. Having followed grey staining in manhole covers, the source of the problem was traced back to a single household, which had recently undergone house renovations and/or an extension. A valuable lesson for DIY plumbers on the disastrous effects of misconnections!
We are now hopeful that we will observe a significant increase in invertebrate abundance and biodiversity, on this stretch of the watercourse, in the years to come. Perhaps fish can thrive and flourish in South Burn once again!
Philip Parker, Wear Rivers Trust
Pollution within watercourse
WRT volunteers performing kick sample
Daisy Hill Nature Reserve
South Burn meandering its way to the River Wear