Chemists at the University of Bath are set to join two major research projects aimed at improving water quality in rivers across the country.
The research is being funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Defra.
Currently, most UK rivers fail to have good ecological status, with only 14% of waterways in England, less than half in Wales, 50% in Scotland and less than a third in Northern Ireland meeting the healthy threshold.
Professor Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, from the University’s Water Innovation and Research Centre and the Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies (CSCT), is leading the research team for two projects that will investigate the impact of chemicals on freshwater microbes, and the effects of livestock manure entering the waterways on river quality and the freshwater ecosystem.
The University of Bath is involved in two of only five projects, each worth over £1.5 million, funded by NERC and Defra as part of the £8.4 million Understanding changes in quality of UK Freshwaters programme.
Led by the UK Centre of Ecology & Hydrology, and…
