Stop Ure Pollution (SUP) is celebrating after being awarded almost £20,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund to support more extensive testing of the River Ure and its tributaries.
The funding will allow the volunteer-led group to significantly expand its water-quality monitoring, which has already highlighted pollution from sewage and agricultural run-off.
Since its launch in June 2024, SUP has worked with citizen scientists to monitor and protect the river for recreation and wildlife.
A key aim for the group has been to purchase a Fluidion system – the same E.coli-monitoring technology used to safeguard swimmers during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The new grant will fund a Fluidion Alert 1 monitor, reagents and Petrifilm test kits, which are widely used in food and beverage industries for the rapid detection of E.coli and coliforms.
The award will also pay for riverside warning signs to be installed at popular bathing spots, including Aysgarth Falls. Weekly testing at both Aysgarth Falls and Ulshaw Bridge this summer, carried out using the handheld Bactiquick kit, showed that the river was not safe for bathing.
Professor Richard Loutoka, SUP chair, who conducted most of the summer testing, said: “We wanted a Fluidion machine because it provides quantified results that have been validated through numerous studies with approved laboratories and international organisations including the WHO and UNICEF.
“It simplifies water-quality monitoring, reduces costs and shortens the time between sampling and results to between two and ten hours. We are very grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund because we can now purchase the equipment and the necessary reagents.”
Reagents have proved one of the group’s biggest expenses, and SUP has also thanked local supporters who have helped meet costs.
Jervaulx Fly Fishers Club donated £1,000 last month, while a coffee morning at Thornton Rust Village Institute raised £146.43, enabling the group to buy an additional Bactiquick monitor and reagents.
Around 75 per cent of SUP’s £19,992 grant will go towards reagents for the Fluidion, Bactiquick and Petrifilm testing systems. The group will also purchase a DJI Flip Drone to help report pollution incidents to the Environment Agency.
The National Lottery Community Fund is the UK’s largest community funder and distributes money raised by National Lottery players to support projects that bring communities together, promote environmental sustainability, help young people thrive and improve public health. Last year it awarded £686.3 million to more than 13,700 projects across the UK.
More information is available at TNLCommunityFund.org.uk.
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